He’s Honor Bound to Go His Own Way

At this point, I like to offer my annual prayer -- Thank heavens that’s over! -- as the playoffs loom, drama enters the equation and even Shaquille O’Neal gets serious.

It’s time for my Iconoclast Awards, in which I try to deviate from the pack according to my motto: Just because someone else said it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wrong, but let’s assume it is.

MVP -- Steve Nash, Phoenix. People were skeptical about giving it to him last season, but he deserves this one even more. No one did more with less, leading the Suns to 54 wins with two (2) teammates back, Shawn Marion and Leandro Barbosa.

2. Kobe Bryant, Lakers -- Now acclaimed as the game’s best player, led them to three to eight more wins than generally expected.

3. LeBron James, Cleveland -- The way he’s going, this could be the last one he doesn’t win until about 2016.

4. Elton Brand, Clippers -- New midrange game and old warrior attitude jump him into the elite class.

5. Chauncey Billups, Detroit -- Ben Wallace is actually their MVP, but with Billups’ leadership and unfailing graciousness, Mr. Big Shot deserves this.

Sure to get votes and deserving too: Tony Parker, San Antonio; Dwyane Wade, Miami; Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas.

Least valuable -- Stephon Marbury, New York. Nips Tracy McGrady, Houston, and Baron Davis, Golden State, because injuries played a part in their disappearances. Steph did it on pure attitude.

Rookie of the year -- Chris Paul, New Orleans. Duh. Players already talk as if he were one of the five best point guards and if his shooting (29% on three-pointers) improves, he will be.

Most improved -- Boris Diaw, Phoenix. Massive surprise to everyone, starting with Coach Mike D’Antoni, who says he told his assistants, “This guy is going to get me fired.” A poor man’s Magic Johnson who can run the offense at 6-8 and guard big players, Diaw assumed Amare Stoudemire’s role as the player no one had a matchup for.

Runners-up -- Josh Howard, Dallas; David West, New Orleans; Barbosa, Phoenix, Raja Bell, Phoenix, Nenad Krstic, New Jersey.

Career going backward award -- Steve Francis, New York. Nips Darius Miles of Portland, because Francis had actually accomplished something.

Coach of the year -- D’Antoni. Apparently he and Nash would make a run at the playoffs with 11 guys from the YMCA.

Runners-up -- Byron Scott, New Orleans; Gregg Popovich, San Antonio; Phil Jackson, Lakers; Avery Johnson, Dallas; Flip Saunders, Detroit.

Most underrated -- Marion. Even for an annual All-Star whom everyone knows is underrated, he’s underrated.

Runners-up -- Pau Gasol, Memphis; all the Piston starters except Rasheed Wallace.

Special commendation -- Morris Peterson, Toronto; Derek Fisher, Golden State. They also serve those who play for wretched teams and keep trying.

Crummy coach of the year -- Tie, Larry Brown, New York, and Maurice Cheeks, Philadelphia.

The 76ers should have finished No. 5 in that conference in a coma but didn’t even show that much life. I’m Brown’s biggest fan, but there’s enough blame for this embarrassment of a season for each of them.

Executive of the year -- Donald T. Sterling, Clippers. No, really, it’s deserved as an organizational award because their turnaround was a team effort between Mike Dunleavy and Elgin Baylor. All Donald ever had to do was get behind someone. I’d like to say I finally got through, but it started when he flipped for Dunleavy.

Donald T. Sterling award for crummy executive -- James Dolan, New York. Isiah Thomas hasn’t covered himself with glory, but Channing Frye and Eddy Curry give them something to build around. Dave Checketts began the ruinous policy of rebuilding on the fly 10 years ago, but at least he wanted to win. Dolan just tries to make it look good, with moves like firing candid announcer Marv Albert, failing ever more comically. One more like this and I’m renaming the award after Dolan.

Runner-up -- Pat Riley, Miami. For dismantling the powerhouse he built with overwrought moves like giving Antoine Walker $54 million. Riley turned his team, which depends on outside shooting, from No. 3 in three-point accuracy to No. 20.

Loretta Summers Heisler award for my worst call -- Jan. 15, 2006: The Knicks “may actually be close to something.”

The team that had just won six games in a row then went 9-37 the rest of the way.

You may have noticed I repeated the same thought four paragraphs above. It’s a trick I learned from league officials in the recent playoff format snafu: When wrong, keep insisting you’re right, in the hope things will change or you’ll outlive your critics.

Faces And Figures

If you want to kick back for six weeks and tune in for the Finals, here’s how it will go: Miami is the only East team that can even threaten the Pistons -- if O’Neal can make opponents pay for single-covering him. Shaq is lighter and quicker, but his old explosiveness is gone forever and the way he was coasting, it was hard to tell what he has left.

Yes, stats are overrated: The Bulls think they have a chance, having held Wade to 12.5 points a game this season.

San Antonio and Phoenix figure to meet in the West finals. The Spurs will be better in the playoffs for the same reason the Lakers were, circa 2002, with more time between games helping Tim Duncan as it did Shaq.

Playing hurt, Duncan averaged 14 points as the Spurs went 3-10 on the second nights of back-to-backs. In their other games, they went 60-9. The Spurs were able to ease up with Duncan playing 42 minutes in the last three games.

The Lakers took a big step, but Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown have to show they can keep doing it in the crunch. This doesn’t necessarily mean winning -- but it does mean competing.

The Clippers ache for recognition, but this isn’t Oklahoma City and you don’t get it around here for making the playoffs. They’re going to have to advance to get on the radar.

Give his regards to Broadway, remember him to Herald Square: The easiest way to tell if something isn’t happening is to look in the papers, on TV and especially the Internet: If they say it is, it isn’t.

That said, the long-speculated-upon Marbury-to-Minnesota deal looks like it’s on track, with Timberwolves’ owner Glen Taylor saying, “It isn’t that we couldn’t use somebody like that. We certainly could with his experience and we know him. It’s that he was signed at a salary that’s going to cause us problems.... It would have to be one of those things where New York would have to say that they really want to get rid of the player and could help us in some financial way.”

Funny he should mention that: New York papers reported that the Knicks would move Marbury. Of course, Steph is in denial, but he has been his whole career.

For anyone who thought the 76ers couldn’t embarrass themselves further, Allen Iverson and Chris Webber showed up late for “Fan Appreciation Night” and General Manager Billy King went off in an expletive-laced tirade that recalled Tom Lasorda’s reaction to Dave Kingman’s three-home run game.

Insiders say King will now entertain offers for Iverson.

After hiring coaches Randy Ayers, Jim O’Brien and Cheeks in the last three seasons, King should be entertaining offers on his house.