NBA Comeback Player of the Year Award

The NBA Comeback Player of the Year Award was an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award presented to a player who recovered from a subpar season after achieving success in the past.[1] It was awarded from 1981 though 1986.[lower-alpha 1][3] Along with several other awards, it was created to increase interest in the league,[lower-alpha 2] whose championship series in 1980 was televised live in the markets of the participants, the Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers, but shown on tape delay in the rest of the United States, typically after the late-night news.[6] The Comeback Player of the Year was selected from a panel of 78 media members, three from each NBA city and another nine national media members.[7] Three of the six winners were returning from drug or alcohol dependency issues: inaugural winner Bernard King in 1980–81 and the final two winners, Micheal Ray Richardson (1984–85) and Marques Johnson (1985–86).[3][8][9] Two winners missed time the season prior due to a holdout: Gus Williams (1981–82) and Paul Westphal (1982–83).[10] Westphal was also coming back from an injury, as was 1983–84 winner Adrian Dantley.[11]

In the middle of the 1986–87 season, the NBA announced the end of the Comeback Player of the Year Award. According to league spokesman Russ Granik: "We phased it out because it became very difficult to determine with any kind of clarity exactly what the requirements were".[12] Drugs were reportedly a reason for the award's cancellation.[8][9][13] In addition to previous winners, candidates for the award that season included Walter Davis and John Lucas II, who had also returned from drugs.[8][14] In two years, Lewis Lloyd and Mitchell Wiggins might also have been eligible for the award after having been banned for failed drug tests.[15] Under the NBA drug program at the time, a player who tested positive for drugs three times was automatically banned from the league, and was eligible to apply for reinstatement in two years.[16] Richardson could also have possibly qualified again that year,[14] having been banned following a positive test in 1986 after winning the award the previous year.[17] In the comeback award's final season in 1985–86, the league also launched the NBA Most Improved Player Award.[3] The criteria for selecting the most improved player award was initially open-ended, but the NBA clarified in later years that it was intended for an up-and-coming player who improved dramatically and not a player who made a comeback.[18][19]