In the past quarter of a century, winners in voting for major honors in the NBA have been pretty well distributed among the league’s teams. They’re not necessarily dominated by the franchises winning championships, either. However, one Texas NBA team stands out among all the others in collecting individual trophies.
As we await developments toward making Texas sports betting legal and regulated, BetTexas.com complied the major awards winners from the past 25 seasons to see which teams have claimed the most. We included Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. There were 101 award winners in all during that 25-year span because Rookie of the Year voting in the 1999-2000 season resulted in a tie for first between Elton Brand of the Chicago Bulls and Steve Francis of the Houston Rockets.
Rank | Team | Total |
1 | San Antonio Spurs | 8 |
T2 | Orlando Magic | 6 |
T2 | Philadelphia 76ers | 6 |
T4 | Chicago Bulls | 5 |
T4 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 5 |
T4 | Denver Nuggets | 5 |
T4 | Detroit Pistons | 5 |
T4 | Memphis Grizzlies | 5 |
T4 | Milwaukee Bucks | 5 |
T4 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 5 |
T4 | Phoenix Suns | 5 |
This analysis is exclusive to BetTexas.com. Check out our NBA betting guide for tips, whether you’re waiting for the Lone Star State to legalize wagering on sports or placing bets when you travel to a state that has it.
The San Antonio Spurs, who have won five NBA championships under coaching legend Gregg Popovich, lead the way over the past quarter century with eight individual honors.
That starts with Popovich himself, who has been named NBA Coach of the Year three times in that span – in 2003, 2012 and 2014. San Antonio has had a knack for developing young players under Popovich, including last season’s Rookie of the Year, Victor Wembanyama. Spurs point guard Stephon Castle is the favorite at -400 odds with DraftKings Sportsbook to win that award this season.
See our list of 10 youngest NBA teams as the Spurs continue their rebuilding project of trying to get back to the form that saw them make the playoffs 22 years in a row from 1998 to 2019.
The Spurs have collected two Most Valuable Player trophies since 2000, both by Tim Duncan, in back-to-back seasons (2001-02 and 2002-03). In the latter season, San Antonio defeated the New Jersey Nets 4-2 for the championship in a best-of-seven series and Duncan was named NBA Finals MVP.
The Spurs claim two Defensive Player of the Year awards, by Kawhi Leonard in consecutive years (2015 and ‘16).
This season, Wembanyama had been the heavy favorite to win NBA Defensive Player of the Year in his second season until he was diagnosed with blood clots, which ended his season on Feb. 20. See our story about NBA Defensive Player of the Year odds to catch up on who the new favorites are with Wemby out.
Just behind the Spurs in earning individual trophies in this century, with six each, are two teams that have not won a championship in this period: The Orlando Magic and the Philadelphia 76ers. Orlando’s trophy haul is largely thanks to Dwight Howard, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year. Philly is one of only four teams (alongside the Spurs, Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks) to win each of the four top individual honors at least once since 2000.
The other two Texas teams, the Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks, have earned three trophies each. Both won the same three: One MVP, one rookie and one coach each. Houston’s award winners were James Harden (2018 MVP), Steve Francis (tied for 2000 ROY) and Mike D’Antoni (2017 COY). For Dallas the honorees were Dirk Nowitzki (2007 MVP), Luka Doncic (2019 ROY) and Avery Johnson (2006 COY).
One odd, final note: The Rockets have not had anyone capture Defensive Player of the Year since Hakeem Olajuwon, for whom the award is now named, won it twice in 1993 and 1994.
In addition to the efforts to bring sports betting to the state, some powerful people are trying to make Texas online casinos a reality as well. BetTexas.com will keep you current on developments.
USA Today photo by Scott Wachter
Author
Jim Tomlin has 30-plus years of experience writing and editing stories about sports, gambling and the intersection of those two industries. He has worked at the Tampa Bay Times, FanRag, Saturday Down South and Saturday Tradition and now lends his expertise to BetTexas.com, among other sites.
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