Is this the year of LeBron?

With this weekend’s all-star game marking the halfway point of the NBA regular season, I wanted to reflect on how crazy it has been. For the first time since the ’80s, we have seen the Boston Celtics and the L.A. Lakers rise to dominance at the same time.

However, we have also seen a once-great franchise – the New York Knicks, due to a once-great player, Isiah Thomas – become the laughing stock of the NBA. We have seen Chris Webber and Don Nelson re-united, and the trade of Shaquille O’Neal to the Phoenix Suns (I hope that roller skates were included in both deals).

All this could probably make any NBA fan forget about Tim Donaghy. (Oops, my mistake.)

To commemorate this great NBA season, I wanted to give my take on player awards:

Most Valuable Player: LeBron James – Every year there are many players who deserve it. Cases could easily be made for Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Chris Paul, Dirk Nowitzki or Kevin Garnett. However, none of them have stood out like “King” James has this year.

Unlike all of his competition, James does not have the luxury of playing with a talented supporting cast. To the contrary, it seems Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry is content with overpaying mediocre players like Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden rather than going after Jason Kidd, a guy who could actually help his young superstar contend for a championship.

Nonetheless, James has raised his game to a new level this year, averaging an unbelievable 30 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. If that isn’t enough of a compelling argument, consider this: the Cavaliers are 0-6 in games James didn’t play in.

Defensive Player of the Year: Marcus Camby – Camby is the Nuggets’ last – and only – line of defense. With perimeter players like Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson dominating the Nuggets’ trigger-happy offense, it’s not surprising opposing teams average the fourth-most points per game against them. Still, Camby currently leads the league in blocks per game and is second in rebounding. Just imagine what kind of shape the Nuggets would be in if Camby weren’t there.

Most Improved Player of the Year: Jose Calderon – This pick was extremely simple because no other player up for this award is on a winning team. Sure, Rudy Gay, Chris Kaman and Al Jefferson are having career years with eye-catching stats, but they all play on teams that would have trouble winning in the NCAA Final Four.

Calderon’s Toronto Raptors, on the other hand, are currently holding the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference. Earlier this year when T.J. Ford went down with a neck injury, many proclaimed Toronto’s season over.

Nobody expected Calderon, an undrafted guard from Spain, to step into the role and give the Raptors an even better shot at winning. He has done such a great job, having the best assist-to-turnover ratio among players who average more than 30 minutes a night, that he will hold on to the starting spot even though Ford has come back from injury.

Rookie of the Year: Greg Oden – ‘Wait, what?! Why isn’t this one going to Kevin Durant?’ It’s easy: Durant is playing for the Seattle SuperSonics, a team that has the second-worst record in its conference. Even though Durant has a lot of talent and will probably develop into a phenomenal player, I just have trouble giving the award to somebody who barely shoots 40 percent from the floor.

The NBA is full of talented players, and most of them could average around 20 points per game like Durant if the offense was centered on them.

With regard to the Oden pick, I honestly couldn’t think of a player who actually deserves it. Experts proclaimed last year’s draft as one of the best rookie classes ever, but I have yet to see it. It’s not that those players won’t have great careers, but they simply haven’t made much of an impact on their teams, unless you count Oden.

As soon as the Portland Trail Blazers drafted him, their philosophy changed, and even though he has yet to play a game in the NBA, his presence turned the franchise around.

Sixth Man of the Year: Manu Ginobili – This is an automatic win for Ginobili because most people know he shouldn’t be a sixth man in the first place. He would be a starter on most teams, but coach Gregg Popovich likes to give the San Antonio Spurs an extra boost by having him come off the bench. Even in that capacity Ginobili quietly averages all-star numbers on a team that contends for the title every year.

Coach of the Year: Doc Rivers – One of the hardest things to do in sports is to win when you are expected to. When the Boston Celtics made blockbuster trades for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen over the summer, the expectations for them skyrocketed.

Yet at the same time, all the critics came out saying the team had no chance because it had no depth and had point guard issues.

On top of all that, the city grew to want more as they saw the Red Sox win the World Series and the Patriots complete a perfect regular season. The Celtics, under Rivers, have responded by having the best record in the NBA.

Executive of the Year: Kobe Bryant – No, this is not a joke. I truly believe he deserves this award. If it weren’t for Kobe lobbying to trade Andrew Bynum over the summer, Bynum might not have been inspired to increase his work ethic and display the dominance he had earlier this season. Also, if it weren’t for Kobe’s demanding to be traded and threatening to opt out of his contract next year, the Lakers might have never made that trade for Pau Gasol.

OK, maybe this is a joke.

Dmitry Bisk is an animal science senior and a Mustang Daily sports columnist.