Breaking Down the NBA's Most Improved Player Candidates

by Sam AmickFiled under: 76ers, Bobcats, Bulls, Cavaliers, Clippers, Jazz, Knicks, Lakers, Pacers, Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, Warriors, Wizards, NBA Rumors, Thunder Talent is one thing. Work ethic is another. It's a creed that is as true in the NBA as anywhere else, and the Most Improved Player award is often the place to find a young player who has applied both key elements in a most admirable way while becoming a far more relevant member of the league. Unless you're Bobby Simmons. Leave it to a Clipper to mess with a good trend. The 2004-05 MIP award winner has fallen completely off the NBA map since he more than doubled his scoring average from one year to the next (7.8 points per game in 2003-04 to 16.4 the next season). Yet aside from that aberration, it's a quality cast of characters that has earned this trophy. There's no shortage of worthy candidates in this year's race, too, including one who has a chance to right the Simmons wrong. Clippers guard ...