John Wall thinks 'pride and ego' will affect players voting on awards

Steph Curry doesn't have John Wall's vote for MVP. James Harden doesn't, either. Neither do LeBron James, Chris Paul, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook or anyone else.

That's because the Washington Wizards star abstained from voting in the newly-created Players Choice Awards, which will see NBPA members vote on end-of-season awards. The aim, according to NBPA executive directior Michele Roberts, is to recognize outstanding performance at the peer level rather than through the media's vote, as requested by the players.

Wall opted not to vote because he doesn't believe the system will be a fair one.

"Us making votes, you'll have people saying they're MVP, they're the best player in the league," Wall said Friday. "It will never be a fair race in my opinion. Us as basketball players, we know who (the best players) are. But sometimes your pride and ego comes in and you don't want to see that person win those awards."

It's possible Wall is correct - after all, superstars like James, Curry and Harden are all on record as thinking they're the 2014-15 MVP.

The union may want to give some thought as to who can vote for whom in future years to avoid biased voting, but even that may not resolve Wall's concerns. For example, if players couldn't vote for their own teammate, you may see teammates of Curry and Harden voting for a third-party candidate to avoid giving their teammate's prime competitor any votes.

This is all a bit of hand-wringing over what should, at least in Year One, simply serve as a fun comparison to the media awards.

That doesn't mean Wall is wrong, though.