With all the accolades to Derrick Rose this NBA season -- he is widely expected to be named league MVP when that award is announced -- let's not forget the outstanding contributions of forward Luol Deng to this year's Bulls success.
↵↵Deng, who is still just 26 despite being in his seventh NBA season, had a fine year, averaging 17.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.
↵↵Today, the Bulls announced that Deng has been given the Syd Lipski International Player of the Year by the United Kingdom’s Basketball Journalists Association. Deng is a British citizen and starred for Great Britain in last summer’s Eurobasket qualifiers. Basketball Journalists Association UK informs us that:
↵↵Malaga and GB centre Joel Freeland is the runner-up for the second year in a row following another brilliant campaign in the both the Spanish ACB and the Euroleague. Their GB team-mate Pops Mensah-Bonsu, currently playing for French side Asvel, was third.↵↵
Congrats to Deng. Now go out and win Game 5 against the Pacers Tuesday at the United Center!