No less a homer, er, expert than Scottie Pippen has weighed in with his votes for Rookie of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year.
Writing for his blog on NBA.com, Pippen anoints Ben Gordon as the winner for both.
Gordon certainly will be in the mix for both, although a sweep is unlikely and it’s quite possible he will be shut out completely as Emeka Okafor continues to put up double-doubles for Charlotte.
Perhaps Gordon’s strongest competition for top sixth man will come from Boston’s Ricky Davis.
“The only other guy I know is Ben Gordon,” Boston coach Doc Rivers said. “I’m sure there are other guys under consideration, but I don’t know them.”
After starting this season’s first 11 games, Davis moved into a reserve role Nov. 21 against Seattle. He leads all reserves in scoring average (15.7), field-goal percentage (46.6 percent) and steals (1.1).
“I think I should win,” said Davis, who scored seven points on 2-for-12 shooting Friday.
Gordon leads the league with 19 double-digit fourth quarters and is averaging 14.9 points despite playing almost nine minutes fewer per game than Davis. Gordon scored 12 Friday on 5-for-12 shooting.
Hurting Gordon is the fact he ranks fifth in the NBA with 4.67 turnovers per 48 minutes, but he had just one in 31 minutes Friday.
Davis said he believes the team’s success should be a factor and that Gordon’s rookie status shouldn’t matter, even though no rookie has won the award.
“If you’re playing good, you should get the award no matter what year you’re in,” Davis said. “But, yeah, winning should have something to do with it.”
Because his shot attempts and minutes are similar, Davis said adjusting to being a reserve hasn’t been difficult.
“I’m always amazed guys like Ricky and Ben are able to sit for eight minutes and run on the floor, touch the ball in the first five seconds and make a shot,” Rivers said.
