Fair or not, the MVP and All-NBA voting carries significant weight in the legacy and Hall-of-Fame candidacy for players. The criteria for receiving an official vote remains murky, but as it stands now, beat writers, play-by-play guys and a select few from the national media get to cast their ballots for official awards. The voting process for these awards cannot be taken lightly because they have a real impact not only on historical clout, but also future contract negotiations.
It’s troubling to see elementary mistakes made on ballots, and this awards cycle features a prominent one. Chris Haynes, a Cleveland beat writer, intended to put James Harden third on his MVP ballot, but Harden was nowhere to be found on his official ballot.
According to the results, I left James Harden entirely out of MVP Top 5. That was not my intentions.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) May 4, 2015
Was an oversight on my part. I [thought] I voted Harden No. 3 for MVP. My list I posted soon after submitting ballot http://t.co/OQ8lFMciN7
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) May 4, 2015
The mistake is ultimately unconsequential, because Stephen Curry won by a significant margin. However, this mistake could have been very costly if the results were as close as the basketball community thought they would be. It seems unfathomable that a writer could forget about a player as great and unique as Harden, but this mistake isn’t uncommon. Just a few week ago, a voter for Defensive Player of the Year admitted that he left Draymond Green off of his ballot.
Creating a set list of candidates for awards would negate mistakes like these, and is something Adam Silver and the NBA’s Competition Committee should look into.
