NBA Awards Watch Quarter One: Where we stand after Thanksgiving

PORTLAND, OREGON – MARCH 03: Stephen Curry #30 celebrates his basket with Draymond Green #23 of the Golden State Warriors in the first quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center on March 03, 2021 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement; NBA Awards. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)

Thanksgiving has come and gone, as has the first quarter of the NBA season. While the sample size is far from complete, 20 games is a good amount of data to see where each of the NBA awards races stands at this point.

At each of the quarter poles, we will be looking at the races for the six major NBA awards: Sixth Man of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, Most Improved Player, Defensive Player of the Year, and MVP. For each award, we will look at our current pick, as well as two runners up to mirror the way the finalists are announced by the NBA.

NBA Awards Watch Quarter One: Where we stand after Thanksgiving

Where do the races for each award stand as the calendar turns to December? We check in on the top three candidates to see where they stack up.

These races are extremely fluid, obviously. Christmas Day is one of the biggest showcases the league has, which will fall in the next quarter of the season. The trade deadline will come after that, shaking up rosters and inevitably shaking up the races for these awards.

However, having a barometer to keep in mind will tell the story of the season that was. If nothing else, it shines a light on the impressive performances thus far. The first quarter tends to be the hardest to narrow down the honorable mentions as the sample is small enough that many of the teams are relatively close. Therefore, if someone you think deserves to be an honorable mention is missing, they undoubtedly were closely missed.

Let’s get started.