“If everything sets up well, we’ll have a younger, more dynamic roster around a healthy Joel, Tyrese and Paul,” Morey said. “I never felt like Coach had a healthy literally one game with all three of ’em. I know they played some games together, but they didn’t finish all of ’em and even the ones where it was like their first game back. It was tough … for me personally it was obviously the toughest season of my career, and I’ll just say personally I will spend every waking hour figuring out how turn this team around going into next season.”
Warriors forward/center Draymond Green has won the NBA’s Hustle Award for the 2024/25 season, the league announced today (story via Brian Martin of NBA.com).
The Hustle Award has been around since the ’16/17 campaign. Unlike other postseason awards, it is not voted on by the media.
Instead, the award goes to the player who has the top composite ranking in nine “hustle stats” — charges drawn, deflections, screen assists, contested two-point shots, contested three-point shots, offensive loose balls recovered, defensive loose balls recovered, offensive box outs, and defensive box outs.
As Martin writes, Green didn’t lead the NBA in any of those nine categories, but he was in the top 15 in five and became the first winner in the award’s history to rank in the top 40 in all nine.
The Hustle Award is meant to honor players “who make the effort plays that don’t often appear in the traditional box score but impact winning on a nightly basis,” per Martin.
Green, who finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting this season, was runner-up for the Hustle Award on two other occasions, Martin notes. Thunder guard Cason Wallace finished second behind Green, with Sixers forward Guerschon Yabusele, Thunder wing Luguentz Dort, and Hawks guard Dyson Daniels rounding out the top five.
Thunder swingman Alex Caruso won the Hustle Award in ’23/24 while playing for the Bulls. Wizards guard Marcus Smart has won the award three times.