Every year, a couple of awards and positions on the ballot keep me up at night, trying to make the right call — but rarely is that tough call at the top of the MVP ballot. It was this year. What follows is my official ballot for the NBA's end-of-season awards,

This season is arguably the most contentious award season in league annals, and not many choices are clear no-brainers.

It wasn’t an epiphany, but the Thunder's NBA playoff loss to the Mavericks last May tightened Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s logic.