The votes are already cast for the 2017-2018 NBA Rookie of the Year but that hasn’t slowed the debate in all corners of the basketball world. Both leading contenders are seen as “no-doubt” favorites by some and, in true NBA fashion, Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons and Utah’s Donovan Mitchell have even beefed about their candicacies. This week, though, a leading voice addressed the topic and came to the conclusion that both are, in fact, deserving.
Charles Barkley, while appearing on the Road Trippin’ Podcast, was prompted about the Rookie of the Year race and he engaged in an interesting back-and-forth with Richard Jefferson and Allie Clifton. Barkley noted that he believed Simmons “has a huge advantage in the players he’s playing with” and seemed to lean, at least at one point, in Mitchell’s direction.
Both he and Jefferson discussed the various advantages Simmons has had by being in the NBA for a year and having access to the trainers and other amenities offered to an NBA player that Mitchell did not in college. By the end, though, Jefferson noted that a co-Rookie of the Year distinction would be “the only fair thing to do” and Barkley echoed that sentiment.
“The NBA… I wish they would just step in and just do the right thing,” Barkley said. “‘Hey, listen, we don’t care what the vote is. We’re going to give it to both of y’all.'”
In addition, Barkley did note that the league has “done that before” in previous years and, while Jefferson pointed out that singular votes could not be split, the always entertaining Barkley did not seem to care about that. Obviously, the NBA isn’t going to step in and negotiate some sort of truce in the form of a split award but, given the voting process, it is at least possible that the two tremendous rookies could tie and, as a result, be named co-Rookies of the Year.
That is, of course, a highly unlikely outcome but Barkley isn’t the first to point out a desire to end this in amicable fashion, nor will he likely be the last. One of the outstanding first-year players is going to win the hardware but, at the very least, the presence of both Simmons and Mitchell in the NBA (and on their particular teams) is great for the league, even amid arguments about which put together the better debut.
