The Shadow
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio (AP) – Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving is the NBA’s Rookie of the Year, winning the award with the same ease as he dribbled past defenders this season.
Irving received 117 of 120 possible first-place votes from a nationwide media panel of 120 writers and broadcasters.
Irving finished with 592 points, way ahead of Minnesota’s Ricky Rubio (170) and Denver’s Kenneth Faried (129), who was third.
Faried, San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard and New York’s Iman Shumpert received the other first-place votes, denying Irving’s bid to become the fourth player to win the award unanimously.
The 20-year-old is the second Cleveland player to win the award, joining LeBron James in 2004.
Irving’s award was expected. It wasn’t a matter of if, but when, he would get it.
The No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft, he was clearly the league’s top first-year player, leading all rookies – and the Cavs – in scoring with 18.5 points per game. He also led all rookies in field-goal percentage (46.8), was second in assists (5.4) and became one of just six rookies in league history to average at least 18 points and five assists.
However, it was the other elements of his game – a nasty crossover dribble, a fearless desire to get to the basket, and a clutch, cold-blooded instinct in the fourth quarter that separated him from the others.
