2023/24 NBL Awards week: NBL Division One

The final day of NBL Awards Week is here, bringing to an end a great week of recognition.

Beginning with Monday's NBL Division Three honours, Tuesday's WNBL Division Two awards and Wednesday's NBL Division Two selections, the WNBL Division One winners were the latest to be announced yesterday.

Based on performances across the regular season, we're now at the finish line with NBL Division One, setting the scene perfectly for this weekend's Senior Playoff Finals at Manchester's National Basketball Performance Centre.

To secure your tickets, click the button below.

Wilson Player of the Year

Putting the finishing touch on a sparkling debut campaign, Derby Trailblazers' Sam Masten is this year's D1M Wilson Player of the Year.

Helping Derby to their first D1M regular season title since 2009/10, Masten was a consistent model of production across the year.

The American guard closed the season as D1M's efficiency leader, aided by a 19.4PPG and 6.4APG stat line.

Also chipping in 4.5RPG and 1.2SPG, Masten hit an impressive 53.6% of his shots this season to keep DTB driving forward.

Wilson Coach of the Year

In what has since been revealed to be his final season, Derby's Matt Shaw is the D1M Wilson Coach of the Year.

After helping his side to top spot in the regular season for the first time in over a decade, Shaw claims his third award after previous wins in 2015/16 and 2021/22.

Shaw put together a Derby team that averaged a D1-best 96.4PPG, conceding a top three 81.5PPG in reply.

Masten's debut season was also a clear bright spot, along with solid campaigns from the likes of Malcolm Smith, Raheem May-Thompson and others.

D1M Team of the Year

POTY Masten automatically slots into the D1M Team of the Year, and he's joined by a familiar face in the form of Derby forward Malcolm Smith (19.7PPG, 6.4RPG) as he returns to this side from a year ago.

Hemel's Hakeem Sylla (22.3PPG, 8.9RPG) also goes back-to-back after his selection last season,  continuing his run as one of the league's top forwards.

Luke Busumbru (11.9PPG, 6.0RPG, 5.1APG) was a do-it-all performer as Essex secured second spot after a huge push for the regular season title, and the five is rounded out by Newcastle's Justin Hopkins (22.1PPG, 6.6RPG, 3.1APG) after the North East side finished fifth this year.

British Team of the Year

Hakeem Sylla retains his spot, as does Luke Busumbru, with three new faces joining the mix for the British Team of the Year.

Worthing's Hafeez Abdul (22.9PPG, 6.5RPG) topped D1M's scoring charts to take that title despite Thunders' struggles this year, he makes the cut alongside Reading Rockets' guard Mitch Clarke (15.8PPG, 4.6RPG, 4.8APG).

That leaves Loughborough's Justin Hedley to complete the quintet, he averaged an impressive 18.4PPG, 6.8RPG and 5.4APG as the Riders secured sixth spot.

Defensive Player of the Year

Reclaiming the honour he picked up in 2021/22, Derby's Raheem May-Thompson is once again D1M Defensive Player of the Year.

After Andre Arissol took the title off the Derby man a year ago, May-Thompson has now wrestled the accolade back to continue the clean sweep for DTB this season.

The defensive standout was a tough customer for opposition offenses this season, pulling down 3.9 defensive boards per outing to go with 1.9SPG and 0.8BPG.

No doubt much of May-Thompson's defensive output went unnoticed on the stat sheet, but it's worth noting that the regular season champs had a top three defence this year, allowing just 81.5PPG.

Young Player of the Year

After playing some major minutes for Bradford Dragons, Joe Buchanan has been singled out as the league's Young Player of the Season.

The Manchester product has adapted excellently to the rigours of senior basketball, posting a 9.8PPG, 1.7RPG and 2.8APG stat line to go with 42% shooting and 39.6 3pt%.

Bradford enjoyed a solid season to secure a playoff place in seventh spot, also making a run to the final of the KitKing Trophy.

Best Game Day Experience

For the second season in a row, Essex Rebels have claimed D1M's Best Game Day Experience award.

The Rebels consistently created a great atmosphere for fans, with a top game day offering both on and off the court.

Each match day features performances and activities to entertain the whole family, and the provision of hot and cold food (plus a licenced bar) at Essex Sports Arena has continued to make the venue a hit across the league.

Process

As with the awards from previous seasons, each head coach from across the two conferences was invited to nominate a selection of their own players that they considered in the running for each accolade.

Each shortlist was then compiled centrally and sent back to the club's involved, and each head coach was given the opportunity to allocate their votes across this year's shortlist (with teams unable to vote for their own players).

A first place vote was worth three points, a second place vote was worth two points, and a third place vote was worth one point, and the recipient with the highest number of points was the winner.

For Player of the Year, Team of the Year and British Team of the Year, coaches were given five votes to distribute rather than just three.

Senior Playoff Finals

Today's awards mark the conclusion of our week of NBL and WNBL end of season honours in the lead up to this weekend's senior playoff finals at the National Basketball Performance Centre in Manchester.

To purchase tickets for the event, please click the button below. Coverage of the event will be available through our NBL social channels, as will the remaining awards from the rest of this week.

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