Dviane Wade advocates for Stephon Castle as MFA, citing his own scolding

In recent years, there has been much debate on social media among NBA fans about what the criteria should be for the award for the best player of the league. Some believe that lottery picks, especially top picks, should not be eligible for the prize. Others, like former NBA star Dwiane Wade, think it shouldn’t matter. Why Vade recently made a case for San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle for the MFA.

During a recent episode of “Timeout with Dwyane Wade,” Wade argued that Stephon Castle definitely has a legitimate case for MIP, citing his opinion when he was still playing with the Miami Heat.

“So Castle should be for Most Improved. Year-on-year improvement,” Wade said. “A lot of things you have to look at. Some guys will improve if they play five minutes the first year and play 35 the next year, you can’t give them Most Improved. My improvement was, maybe my minutes went up 2-3.”

Wade felt like he should have been MIP during his second season in the league, which happened to be the year the Heat traded for Shaquille O’Neal. The eventual MIP winner that season was Bobby Simmons of the Los Angeles Clippers.

“How many mothe**kers go up eight points? The way I went up eight points. Improvement. I thought I should have,” Wade said. “Now obviously I think Bobby Simmons won. And shout out to Bobby Simmons, but I remember going through that year like, ‘Why don’t I get more attention for Most Improved Player.’

“That year, I went from 16 points a game to 24 a night. And assists and rebounds, everything went up,” Wade continued. “And our team record went from a 40-win team, 42 wins, I think my freshman year … to the 50s. I’m sure we had wins in the high 50s or mid-50s.”

As for Castle’s MIP case, he’s averaging 17.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 6.8 assists while playing just over 30 minutes per game. He is four minutes more than last season and they are having a strong seasonbut his numbers aren’t as big a jump as Wade’s from year one to year two. He is too pretty far down the list MIP odds, according to DraftKings.