As we approach the final stretch of the playoff season, we are going to take a look at the best players on this wild journey that is the chase for an NLL ring!

This is all based on the NLL stats and performances in big spots with the added bonus of how well the team did, which obviously illustrates the meaning of the player’s contribution to the team’s success.

We will also be giving out informal awards to the NLL players as a form of appreciation for all they’ve given us and their respective teams throughout these amazing playoffs!

Hope you guys enjoy it!

Let’s dive in!

 Biggest Vortex of Basketballs

First up, the biggest vacuum of boards at the biggest stage! This was a fierce competition as we had the top two performers with plus 14 rebounding averages. This guys totally dominated the paint and called  it his bitch! DeAndre Jordan is his name and his rebounding average for the playoffs were an astounding 14.7 rebounds!! Jordan is a big part of what the Brooklyn Nets do, as they rated the #1 rebounding team in the playoffs by more than point differential. The Nets also took the current Eastern Conference Champion, New York Knicks to 6 games in a thrilling series. Although Jordan would certainly trade this award for a berth in the Finals, this is a nice consolation prize. Great job, DJA!

Biggest Hustler/Garbage Man/Pain in the Ass in the Paint  

That title, my friends, go to the NLL/NBA mascots’ biggest nightmare, Robin Lopez!!

RoLo, as he’s commonly known around league circles, was an absolute animal in the offensive glass! Granted, his team is one of the teams that wants to recreate the brand of basketball the NBA Golden State Warriors are employing, which basically says “a three is better than a two, right?”. So while they shoot a lot, it is awesome to have a guy like Robin Lopez out there to gobble up misses, and he did so by averaging 4.8 Second Chance Points per game and beating Hassan Whiteside by more than a point, which is crazy in itself.

Biggest All-Around Stat Sheet Stuffer

Thy name is Kevin Durant! The Durantula is all over the place when it comes to stats! #1 points, #1 in blocks, #1 in Field Goals Made and #1 in Points in the Paint, seriously, are you kidding me? Durant took it upon himself to carry the Celtics and was playing out of his mind and took the Cavs 7 games to kill this beast! There is a case to be made that Durant is the best player in this year’s playoffs, and it would be a strong one, but the amount of games his team played which were only 3, put a real dent in that case. Still, Durant was a monster while he was on the court, his 33.6 points per game should go untouched this year and he’ll take the playoffs scoring champ as well as this symbolic award.

Biggest “Imma Put in a Poster Real Quick” Player

That title goes to Mr. Anthony Davis! I mean, the dude has had an amazing 73 dunks, and counting, by the way, since he’s got another game to play. That is an incredible 9 dunks better than his paint adversary Dwight Howard, who’s also in the Finals, by the way, but realistically unless he puts 10-0 dunks on Anthony Davis in Game 7, by the way, this thing is over and done. Davis has simply taken every opportunity he could to hammer that ball into the basket and assert his dominance on the court. Anthony Davis is this year’s Posterizer! Brought to you by 2k Sports!

Biggest “Now-You-See-Me-Now-You-Don’t” Dimer

This award goes to a player that means so much to his team and to his General Manager. Some might say he IS the franchise, and by some, I mean everybody!  He came into the league a skinny gunner with some range and a really quick trigger, but he has come such a long way that some already give him the tile of the best shooter of all-time! Aside from that, he’s worked so hard on developing all parts of his game and today he is crowned the best Dimer in the playoffs! With an amazing 11 assists per game, Steph Curry is our man! Congrats!

Biggest All-Around Super-Duper Mega Baller

Ah yes, the biggest award in this piece!! The best for last!

This one goes out to our version of the most outstanding player so far and goes to a guy that has faced a resurrection in his career. In 2016-17, he was born a new man, with a new purpose and a new mission, and his GM thanks all existing gods every day for that, yelling “FINALLY!!”.  This players ranks as this year’s playoffs #2 in points scored, #5 in rebounds, #2 in Field Goals Made, #4 in Free-Throws Made, #2 in Points in the Paint and as I mentioned previously, #1 in dunks! His name is Anthony Davis, of course! Davis is the biggest part of why the Spurs are in the Finals and the biggest part of what they do. He and Embiid form the best frontcourt in the league  with so much talent, skill and power at their disposal. Davis might not even win the ring, but as long as he is on the court, the San Antonio Spurs will have a shot! 

So there you have it, the best players in this year’s playoffs! Some honorable mentions are in order, of course, as Kyrie Irving, Dwight Howard and Lebron James constantly appeared in our search for the awards in this piece, and they were awesome as well in taking their teams deep into the playoffs, but this was an attempt at a fun outlook and one man’s opinion of our best players at their respective niches.

Be sure to leave us feedbacks and feel free to agree or disagree with us.

Really hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

From all of us here at the Rio de Janeiro Television Center, good bye!