Like Gordon, Williams is averaging over 17 points and 3 assists a game, shooting a shade under 40 percent from deep, but the latter is doing it in six fewer minutes per game with a bunch of kids around him; not an MVP favorite in Harden or a Coach of the Year favorite in D’Antoni.

Gordon is averaging over 30 minutes a game — he’s a de facto starter. His PER is 15.0, the definition of an average NBA player. Williams, on the other hand, has a PER over 22 and he is carrying the Lakers bench. He’s the real 6MOY.

Alt-Defensive Player of the Year: Rudy Gobert

Presumed favorite: Draymond Green

Draymond Green is awesome. He is the heart and soul of the Warriors defense, the man that makes Golden State go. He’s also the pivot point for that D, which just so happens to be the No. 1 ranked defense in the league. He is irreplaceable.

But Rudy Gobert is the Defensive Player of the Year.

Utah has the No. 2 ranked defense and is first in points allowed with Gobert manning the paint. Gordon Hayward, George Hill, and Derrick Favors have combined to miss 46 games already — Utah has only played 46 — yet Gobert has kept them right in the mix for the 4-seed out West. He’s leading the league at 2.5 blocks per game and doing it without having huge run-out leads most nights like the Warriors typically do.

Alt-Coach of the Year: Gregg Popovich

Presumed favorite: Mike D’Antoni

Look, D’Antoni has done a marvelous job with the Rockets, but Pop’s San Antonio Spurs could lose their next five games and would still have a better record than Houston. And these are not your grandfather’s Spurs, either. Tim Duncan has finally gone out to pasture. He’s been seamlessly replaced by Pau Gasol and David Lee, who the Spurs have magically turned into star defenders this year. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili aren’t carrying the team anymore, so San Antonio has turned to some dudes named Jonathan Simmons, Dewayne Dedmon, and Davis Bertans at key times this season.

Until proven otherwise, Popovich must be considered an actual wizard at this point — and a believer in #AlternativeFacts, at that! He has taken players off the scrap heap and his Spurs remain the only team outside of Golden State in the top five on both offense and defense.

Maybe if San Antonio beats out the Warriors for the 1-seed out West, he’ll finally (read: for a record, but deserving fourth time) get his due.

Alt-Most Improved Player: Isaiah Thomas

Presumed favorite: Giannis Antetokounmpo

Look, this award is silly. Pick any of the top hundred players in the NBA and they’ve almost certainly improved since last season. Who is supposed to win the Most Improved Player, anyway? Someone getting more minutes than they have in the past? A young guy breaking out? A starter becoming an All Star? Heck, Harden and Westbrook have “improved” since last year.

The rarest of cases seems to be a veteran deep into his career who makes that next-level leap. Yes, the Greek Freak is awesome, and has exploded this year, but 22 year olds are supposed to improve. 5'9 27-year-old NBA players in their sixth seasons are not supposed to explode like this.

It’s become popular around the internet to compare IT to another tiny player at age 27, Allen Iverson, but why settle for an age comparison? Take a look at Thomas versus Iverson’s best year, his MVP 2000–01 season: