Associated Press
LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill. (AP) ó Right from the start, Derrick Rose wondered why he couldnít be the MVP. It turns out, nothing could stop him.
Rose officially became the NBAís youngest MVP on Tuesday and joined Michael Jordan as the only Bulls player to win the award, which was no surprise given his spectacular season and Chicagoís leap to a league-leading 62 wins.
He has a ways to go before he catches Jordan, who won five MVPs and led the way to two championship three-peats, but he sure is off to a good start.
ěIím not even touching that man right there,î Rose said. ěIím far away from him. If anything, it would be great to be close to him. This is a different team, a different era.î
In his third year, the dynamic point guard led the Bulls to their best season since the championship era.
The 22-year-old Rose got 1,182 points and 113 first-place votes from a panel of media voters, supplanting Wes Unseld as the youngest to win the award with a runaway win. Orlandoís Dwight Howard (643 points) finished second, Miamiís LeBron James was third, the Lakersí Kobe Bryant was fourth and Oklahoma City star Kevin Durant finished fifth.
A product of Chicagoís South Side, Rose established himself as one of the top players in the league after going from Rookie of the Year to All-Star in his first two seasons. He took another step this year with one of the best all-around performances by a point guard.
He averaged 25 points and 7.7 assists while leading Chicago into contention for its first championship since the Jordan-Scottie Pippen era. For all the groaning over the Bulls missing out on James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in free agency, they did quite well for themselves anyway.
Rose showed up to training camp openly wondering why he couldnít be MVP. Then, he backed it up.
ěIt really just came out,î Rose said. ěThatís the way I thought at the time. I put a lot of hard work into my game, especially during the summer. … I dedicated my whole summer to basketball. Even though it was tough, I did it.î
Griffin to be named ROY
LOS ANGELES ó Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin will be named the NBAís Rookie of the Year on Wednesday, a person familiar with the news told The Associated Press.
The person spoke Tuesday night on condition of anonymity because the formal announcement hadnít been made. The Clippers announced a news conference at their training complex for the presentation of a major NBA award, and Rookie of the Year is the only award left.
Griffinís victory is absolutely no surprise after his spectacular season. The No. 1 draft pick out of Oklahoma in 2009 easily led all rookies in scoring and rebounding after missing all of last year with a broken kneecap.
Griffin averaged 22.5 points, 12.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists while playing in all 82 games and earning a reputation as one of the NBAís most fearsome dunkers, with his alley-oop slams and one-handed jams making highlight reels nightly.
The 6-foot-10 power forward made the West All-Star team, becoming the first rookie All-Star in eight years, and even won the dunk contest in front of his Staples Center fans with an iconic dunk while flying over a car.
Griffin was named the Western Conferenceís Rookie of the Month six times, becoming the first player to sweep that award since Chris Paul did it with New Orleans in 2005-06.
Griffin had 63 double-doubles while single-handedly energizing the Clippers, who still missed the playoffs for the 13th time in 14 seasons. Los Angeles went 32-50 in its 18th non-winning season in the past 19 years, but Griffinís nightly acrobatics and toughness always made the Clippers interesting.
Griffin was the NBAís fourth-leading rebounder and the 12th-leading scorer ó the only rookie among the leagueís top 45 scorers and top 20 rebounders.
Washingtonís John Wall, the No. 1 pick last summer, was Griffinís only significant competition for the award, but Griffin could win the award unanimously. Sacramentoís Tyreke Evans won the award last season.
Griffin will be the first Clippers player to win the award since the star-crossed franchise moved to Los Angeles in 1984. Terry Cummings won it with the San Diego Clippers after the 1982-83 season, while Adrian Dantley, Bob McAdoo and Ernie DiGregorio won the award during a five-year stretch with the Buffalo Braves, who moved to San Diego in 1978.
The Associated Press
05/03/11 23:37