As the 2024-25 NBA season begins, it’s time to recognize the best of the past year with the 2024 NBA Award Tour; it’s now unofficially a world affair.
For the 2023-24 season, as has been the trend, the best NBA players were foreign born. The tour includes two continents, mostly Europe, and Africa. There are several traditional categories, with a new take on defense.
Total Average Point Score (TAPS-ROY) Rookie of the Year, a new award, Defensive Average Point Score, or DAPS Player of the Year and the TAPS Player of the Year are the three categories this year. Each award has an NBA counterpart; but it is different. While the NBA explains, or allows for a qualitative explanation for their award, TAPS and DAPS is purely quantitative. The player with the most points, as in a game, wins.
TAPS Rookie of the Year
Our first stop is France, host nation of 2024 Olympic Games. It is fitting the Frenchman (Congolese father, French mother), ‘Wemby’ picks up the win for the TAPS Rookie of the Year.
It wasn’t close, statistically. Victor Wembanyama picked #1 by the San Antonio Spurs entered as a generational talent. He has not let us down, be it with highlights or numbers. Chet Holmgren, who sat out the 2022-23 season made it look competitive, but Wemby wins this one. Here is how the contest looked statistically.
| PLAYER | POINTS | REBOUNDS | ASSISTS | STEALS | BLOCKS | TAPS |
| Victor Wembenyama | 21.4 | 10.6 | 3.9 | 1.2 | 3.6 | 40.7 |
| Chet Holmgren | 16.5 | 7.9 | 2.4 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 29.7 |
| Brandon Miller | 17.3 | 4.3 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 25.5 |
There is a case for Chet Holmgren of the Oklahoma City Thunder for the NBA ROY award. While Wemby and the Spurs came in second to last place in the Western Conference (22-60), Chet and company finished tied for first (57-25). Chet was the second best player on a team led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Holmgren is the only major change on a team that improved by 17 games.
Chet took a team that went 40-42, 10th in the Western Conference with no playoffs last, to first place tie and a 57-25 record. They lost to the eventual Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks in 6 games of the first round.
Wembenyama posted one of the most dominant Rookie seasons ever (best since Shaq in ’93) and is poised to be named in the same breath as the very best; in Wilt Chamberlain, Hakeem Olajuwon and Shaquille O’Neal territory. Here are some of the best all-time rookie seasons.
| YEAR | PLAYER | POINTS | REBOUNDS | ASSISTS | STEALS | BLOCKS | TAPS |
| 1960 | Wilt Chamberlain | 37.6 | 27 | 2.3 | 66.9 | ||
| 1961 | Oscar Robertson | 30.5 | 10.1 | 9.7 | 50.3 | ||
| 1970 | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 28.8 | 14.5 | 4.1 | 47.4 | ||
| 1990 | David Robinson | 24.3 | 12 | 2 | 1.7 | 3.9 | 43.9 |
| 1985 | Michael Jordan | 28.2 | 6.5 | 5.9 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 43.8 |
| 1993 | Shaquille O’Neal | 23.4 | 13.9 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 3.5 | 43.4 |
| 2024 | Victor Wembanyama | 21.4 | 10.6 | 3.9 | 1.2 | 3.6 | 40.7 |
If I’m voting for NBA Rookie of the Year, a strong consideration goes to Chet. If the Minnesotan is the primary option like Wemby was for the Spurs , it may have been much closer. But, while Holmgren may be more efficient, TAPS consists of raw numbers. The best Rookie of the 2023-24 class is Victor Wembanyama as he looks to become one of the very best in the league in his second year. Oh, and he was stellar on defense.
DAPS Defensive Player of the Year
We will stay in Europe, where offensive minded players have taken over the NBA.
A defensive minded player is hard to come by in the contemporary game. It is not so much that NBA stars and bench players alike can’t play defense. It is that players aren’t recruited for defense, rather for shooting. Recent rule changes have (or haven’t) helped.
What does help is if you stand 7’4″.
Defense is an area that really needs statistical measures and Defensive Average Point Score (DAPS) is here to help. Just take the average number of Offensive Rebounds, Steals and Blocks. The Total is DAPS or Defensive Average Point Score.
Here is the list of 2023-34 DAPS Defensive Player of the Year Candidates – and the winner.
| PLAYER | OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS | STEALS | BLOCKS | DAPS |
| Victor Wembenyama | 2.3 | 1.2 | 3.6 | 7.1 |
| Anthony Davis | 3.1 | 1.2 | 2.3 | 6.6 |
| Rudy Gobert | 3.8 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 6.6 |
| Scottie Barnes | 2.4 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 5.2 |
| Damontis Sabonis | 3.6 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 5.1 |
| Jarrett Allen | 3.2 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 5 |
| Chet Holmgren | 1.6 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 4.5 |
| Bam Adebayo | 2.2 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 4.2 |
This year, while the NBA awarded the Defensive Player of the Year to Rudy Gobert, the best defender was generational talent, Victor Wembenyama, the DAPS Player of the Year.
TAPS Player of the Year
Our last stop is Slovenia; and Greece, and Serbia, and Canada (Gilgeous-Alexander) and Cameroon.
Each year the MVP Award is given to a particular player. It may be an All-Star or Super Star, usually with some controversy. This year, the best 6 players are foreign born, unprecedented and evidence that the NBA is now FIBA (International Basketball Federation), or heavily European influenced.
The Total Average Point Score (TAPS) aims to quantify statistical recognition giving an award to the best player. This year the award comes down to several players who topped the 50 point TAPS mark, a feat uncommon until James Harden, Russell Westbrook and the Offensive Explosion of 2017.
They are Nikola Jokic (Serbia), Giannis Antetekounpo (Greece; Nigerian parents) and Luka Doncic (Slovenia). This is a changing of the guard as all are foreign-born players.
Here are the lines of notable 2023-24 players. *Joel Embiid (Cameroon) with 39 games did not qualify.
| PLAYER | POINTS | REBOUNDS | ASSISTS | STEALS | BLOCKS | TOTAL |
| Luka Doncic | 33.9 | 9.2 | 9.8 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 54.8 |
| Joel Embiid* | 34.7 | 11 | 5.6 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 54.2 |
| Giannis Antetekounpo | 30.4 | 11.5 | 6.5 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 50.7 |
| Nikola Jokic | 26.4 | 12.4 | 9 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 50.1 |
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | 30.1 | 5.5 | 6.2 | 2 | 0.9 | 44.7 |
| LeBron James | 25.7 | 7.3 | 8.3 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 43.1 |
| Jason Tatum | 26.9 | 8.9 | 4.9 | 1 | 0.6 | 42.3 |
| Kevin Durant | 27.1 | 6.6 | 5 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 40.8 |
| Jalen Brunson | 28.7 | 3.6 | 6.7 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 40.1 |
Jokic had a elite season, but with an early surprise playoff exit as did Giannis. LeBron is (still) the best American player in the NBA. For the 2024-25 season the top 6 players (Wemby) could be foreign born.
Luka Doncic posted the best season since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He is just ahead of Russell Westbrook’s historic 2017 season. Here are some historic TAPS POY numbers with field goal percentages included.
| YEAR | PLAYER | POINTS | REBOUNDS | ASSISTS | STEALS | BLOCKS | TAPS | FIELD GOAL % |
| 1976 | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 27.7 | 16.9 | 5 | 1.5 | 4.1 | 55.2 | 0.529 |
| 2024 | Luka Doncic | 33.9 | 9.2 | 9.8 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 54.8 | 0.487 |
| 2017 | Russell Westbrook | 31.6 | 10.7 | 10.4 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 54.7 | 0.425 |
| 1975 | Bob McAdoo | 34.5 | 14.1 | 2.2 | 1.1 | 2.1 | 54 | 0.512 |
| 2019 | James Harden | 36.1 | 6.6 | 7.5 | 2 | 0.7 | 52.9 | 0.442 |
| 1989 | Michael Jordan | 32.5 | 8 | 8 | 2.9 | 0.8 | 52.2 | 0.538 |
For the 2023-24 year the best basketball player was Luka Doncic.
The future is bright for Luka Doncic, who, with a consistent career, is on pace to be the very best ever. Doncic followed by his mostly European rivals have taken over the NBA, fruit of the 2004-2005 freedom of movement rule changes and natural progression. Championships, meaning better defensive leadership for Luka, however, will determine if he can secure a seat among the greatest.