PLEASE READ ALL OF THIS POST TO BE FAMILIAR WITH THE PROCESS AND GUIDELINES
Project History
This is an update of a project that first took place in 2010, following largely the same rules, goals, and structure:
Doctor MJ wrote:We go back through the years and vote for who we think had the 5 best seasons each year. This will work like an MVP voting, but will cover both regular and post seasons.
Anyone who would like to be part of the project, just say so in this thread over the next few days. 2 requirements though:
1) This project's going to take a while. Please don't sign up without planning to be in it for the long haul. It'll be okay if stuff comes up and you have to pull out, or if you miss a few votes, but if you don't have an interest in really going back into NBA history to do this, please don't sign up.
2) Every year you vote, you've got to spend some time on research. I'll put a structure in place to make it easier for people - but you'll still have to put some time in.
- The criteria of "best season" is meant to emulate MVP thinking. Obviously different people think about MVP differently, so it's okay that the same holds for our POY. That said, this is a proof-in-pudding award. If a player got injured, got disgruntled, etc one season, that has to be factored in.
- Voting weights will be just like the MVP: 10-7-5-3-1. This will be used note only to determine POYs, but we'll also track POY shares over players' careers.
- Each voting will take 3 days. I'll add them up at the end. You can change your voting after you post it up until I do the final count, but please do it by editing your original post to make it easier for me.
- Votings will overlap since they aren't dependent on each other, so sometimes we'll have more than one voting "live" at once.
- This will be an NBA-centric project, but will include leagues that became incorporated into the NBA. So for example in 1976, NBA & ABA will both be considered.
This time around, we will also be conducting votes for Offensive Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.
Project Purpose
While we create a Ranked List as a part of this project, and that List then becomes an entity we can analyze, it is important to understand that the List itself is not the primary purpose of the project.
The project's purpose is to encourage deep thought among those who participate and read by forcing participants to consider players in depth thread-by-thread, and having them make arguments and debate along the way.
And the hope in doing this is to build a community and that community's institutional knowledge.
Becoming a Voter
To become a voter before the project, just express your interest posting in this thread. You must be approved by the runner (in this case, me) before you become a voter. I am not looking to be too exclusive at the start of the project. That said, I am concerned about people only showing up for certain players, so once we hit the 1960s/1970s I will be more strict about any new additions or reentries (barring good cause for absence or strong history of knowledge shown in prior projects). 1971 Thread EDIT: No new entries without reasonable justification and a long history of prior engagement with forum projects. Please DM me if you want to join. 1993 Thread EDIT: The standard to request late admittance is at least seven threads of involved participation in discussion of that year pre-tally, by which I mean offering thoughts on the players and their season and engaging with the thoughts of others on average at least twice per thread before I close voting (because otherwise someone could just make a quick series of post-hoc contributions; the intent here is to show real commitment to the project).
Additionally, there is an expectation to be invested in the entire history here, so I am requesting that interested people make sure they have a good sense of their complete ballot voting for all eras, rather than just from the 1980s onward.
Voter Standards
* Post as much as you want in any thread, but only have one Voting post, and please make clear at the top of your post that this is your Voting post and make that post easy for me to read as I tally.
* Feel free to change your mind on your vote before the deadline, but EDIT the existing Voting post so I don't count both your old and new post. I also appreciate messages informing me of edits, as they make oversights much less likely.
* You must give reasoning for all your votes. Votes without any reasoning at all will be tossed.
* You can pick the awards on which you vote thread to thread, but you must complete a full ballot to be counted: 5 ranked spots for Player of the Year, 3 ranked spots for Offensive/Defensive Player of the Year.
* As a voter you are expected to follow the discussion consistently. We don't want people to just show up blind every once in a while and vote. We expect you to keep engaged from thread to thread to thread, etc. However, it is a long project and it is unrealistic to expect all voters to be here for all votes. We just want you to try to stay involved for this extended run as best you can.
* Contrarian votes can be and have been sincere, but they look a lot more sincere when you take the time to fully present your reasoning rather than transparently pretend nothing is amiss. There is a significant difference between a properly justified and internally consistent contrarian vote, and a vote whose purpose is to undermine the project itself. Ballots which threaten to do the latter and derail the project discussion via blatant vote manipulation are liable to be tossed. If it happens twice, the offending poster will be removed from the project.
Pre-Project Determinations
1. Where do we start the project? With the 1955 season, start of the shot clock era (and same as the original project)? With the 1952 season, when we gain access to minutes data? With the 1951 season, when we start to have player rebounding data (and black players were first signed)? With the 1950 season, when the BAA merged with the NBL? With the 1947 season, the founding of the BAA as a rival league to the NBL? Or with the 1946 season, immediately following the resolution of World War II? ANSWER: This project will start with the 1949-50 season.
2. Where do we stop the project? In the 2009 season, where the original project started? Or should we stop at a later date — perhaps up to the 2015 season, which was the first season we voted on OPoY and DPoY. ANSWER: The final year of this project will be the 2013-14 season.
3. Should the 2010 ballots be counted — truly making this an update rather than an replacement — or should they be ignored/discounted? If they are counted, should they be weighed equally ballot by ballot, equally by result (i.e. we average our end result with the old result), or something else? ANSWER: Not “officially”.
DETERMINATIONS SET HERE.
Additional Pre-Project Discussion Topics
* What significant results do you think you may vote to change?
* Which years do you think were correct #1-5?
* Which players do you think might fare better in a 2024 vote than in a 2010 vote?
* What is your general ballot philosophy?
* Are there any years or eras where you feel significantly uncertain about which players to list on your ballot, for any of the three awards?
I anticipate starting no later than July 8th.
Current Voter List
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Spreadsheet of Historical RealGM All-Season Award Winners
Retro Offensive Players of the Year:
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List of Years and Results
1950s
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2000 — Shaquille O’Neal (1.000 / 1.000)
2001 — Shaquille O’Neal & Tim Duncan (0.744 / 0.902 & 0.674)
2002 — Tim Duncan (0.954 / 0.847)
2003 — Tim Duncan (1.000 / 0.976)
2004 — Kevin Garnett (0.962 / 0.986)
2005 — Tim Duncan (0.906 / 0.883)
2006 — Dwyane Wade (0.700 / 0.829)
2007 — Tim Duncan (0.950 / 0.929)
2008 — Lebron James (0.742 / 0.642*)
2009 — Lebron James (1.000 / 0.977)
2010 — Lebron James (0.950 / 0.862)
2011 — Dirk Nowitzki (0.878 / 0.922)
2012 — Lebron James (1.000 / 1.000)
2013 — Lebron James (1.000 / 1.000)
2014 — Lebron James (0.940 / 0.954)
CONCLUSION
