Charlotte guard LaMelo Ball beat out Timberwolves rookie Anthony Edwards for the league's Rookie of the Year award.
LaMelo Ball tops Anthony Edwards, runs away with NBA Rookie of the Year voting
The Timberwolves guard made a late push for the award, but Ball's team made the NBA's play-in tournament, and he had a better shooting metric.
June 16, 2021 at 8:03PM
Ball led the Hornets to the play-in tournament. He missed 21 games during the season because of a wrist injury, and averaged 15.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 6.1 assists.
Edwards played in all 72 Wolves games and averaged 19.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists. Ball was the slightly more efficient scorer with a true shooting percentage — a metric that takes into account the value of threes and free throws — of 54%. Edwards' was 52%.
Ball had 84 first place votes and 15 second-place votes for 465 points in the voting. Edwards had 15 first place votes, 75 second place votes and nine third place votes for 309 points. Tyrese Haliburton of Sacramento had 114 voting points, but got no first-place votes; Detroit's Saddiq Bey had three third-place votes for three points.
Edwards made a strong case over the second half of the season, when his numbers shot up under coach Chris Finch. Edwards had 23.8 points per game on 57% true shooting percentage after the break while he averaged 14.9 points on 47% true shooting percentage before the break.
Despite Edwards' late-season surge, Ball's return from injury and Charlotte's finish in the postseason likely cemented the award for Ball.
Coach Chris Finch said the team reviewed film of every Edwards play in clutch time this season, and he graded out fairly well.
