Kendrick Nunn believes he is the Rookie of the year over Ja Morant

In a recent interview with the South Florida Sun Sentinel's Ira Winderman, Kendrick Nunn made an argument on him being the Rookie of the year.

"I think people will say that [Morant] is Rookie of the Year, but I don't believe it," Nunn said. "The most value should be in the wins. And we're both starting guards on teams, and our team has been holding it down. We're a playoff team, so go ahead and give that Rookie of the Year to Kendrick Nunn."

On that side, he is totally correct. Both Kendrick Nunn and Ja Morant are the starting point guards on their teams, which are also playoff squads. Let's see what Ja Morant had to say about it right after the news came out.

https://t.co/HVFc4rq5Nb pic.twitter.com/8Hx0BtqsaG— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) April 13, 2020

Now, which one of these young athletes really proved themselves to be the award winner? Just like it was before the statement got out, it is still easily Ja Morant, here's why:

Ja Morant: 17.6 ppg, 6.9 apg, 3.5 rpg, 0.9 stl, 51.7% 2p, 36.7% 3p, 77% ft
Kendrick Nunn: 15.6 ppg, 3.4 apg, 2.7 rpg, 0.8 spg, 51.2% 2p, 36.2% 3p, 83.2% ft

If we only looked at the statistics and team performance, Nunn would probably have a little more chance as the statistics between Morant and the Heat's point guard are pretty similar. The fact is Nunn is not the one reason why the Heat are having such a great season. He's clearly a part of it, a big part of it, but just not the X factor like Morant is. Even without the addition of Nunn this summer, the Miami Heat (41-24, 4th in the Eastern Conference) would have easily been a playoff team. They had two players who were named All-Stars this season in Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler, those are the major reasons why the Heat was so good. This is nothing against Nunn, who had an unexpectably incredible season as a guy who played in the Warriors G-League team las year (Santa Cruz Warriors).

The main reason why Morant is the undisputed ROY is because he was the best player on his team. In the beginning of the year, the Memphis Grizzlies were seen as a 27-30 win team. They surprised everybody with a 32-33 record, good for the last spot for a playoff berth.

Of course, Ja had a lot of help. Brandon Clarke Jaren Jackson Jr, Dillon Brooks and Jonas Valanciunas were all solid players all along the season went on. The fact is that Ja was the primary scorer of the team, playmaker and ball-handler, simply the general on the floor, all that at only 20 years old. He was a clutch performer for the Grizzlies in the 4th quarter and simply made his teammates so much better.

MUST READ

12 minutes ago  |  By Jonathan Ouimet Bowman just talked to a coaching heavyweight and big news could land soon

53 minutes ago  |  By Jonathan Ouimet Alexandre Texier roasted teammate Dobes in the most hilarious way and it's pure gold

1 hour ago  |  By Jonathan Ouimet Per Dreger, a huge trade target just hit the market and teams are calling like crazy

1 hour ago  |  By Jonathan Ouimet Cameras caught Jakub Dobes in stunning situation and the call has fans demanding answers

2 hours ago  |  By Jonathan Ouimet Fresh news in Auston Matthews saga is the best thing Toronto fans have heard in months

2 hours ago  |  By Jonathan Ouimet Illegal hit set off a firestorm and both fanbases cannot handle what comes next

3 hours ago  |  By David St-Jean Something unprecedented just happened between the Canadiens and the Hurricanes

4 hours ago  |  By David St-Jean A major development just changed the Oilers' head coaching race

MORE STORIES