Wisconsin Herd’s Frank Mason III Named 2019-20 NBA G League Most Valuable Player

Wisconsin Herd guard Frank Mason III has been named the 2019-20 NBA G League Most Valuable Player, the NBA G League announced today. He earned the honor in a vote by the league’s 28 head coaches and general managers.

Mason (5-11, 190, Kansas), who signed a two-way contract with the Milwaukee Bucks last July, averaged an NBA G League-high 26.4 points, 5.0 assists and 3.4 rebounds in 23 games with the Herd. Wisconsin went 18-5 with Mason in the lineup and finished with the league’s best record (33-10).

Mason shot 50.4 percent from the field, 42.5 percent from three-point range and 81.5 percent from the free throw line, joining the Fort Wayne Mad Ants’ Stephan Hicks as the only players in the NBA G League to record a 50/40/80 shooting season in 2019-20.

A 2019-20 Midseason All-NBA G League Team selection, Mason registered seven games with at least 30 points. He scored a season-high 44 points against the Grand Rapids Drive on Feb. 19 and followed that performance by finishing with 36 points (on 14-of-17 shooting from the field) against the Drive on Feb. 23. In his second-to-last NBA G League game of the season, he made 16-of-18 shots from the field and had 35 points against the Delaware Blue Coats on Feb. 27.

This season marked Mason’s first action in the NBA G League after spending two seasons with the Sacramento Kings, who selected him with the 34th pick in NBA Draft 2017 presented by State Farm. He was the 2016-17 consensus National Player of the Year as a senior at Kansas.

In his NBA career, Mason has averaged 6.5 points and 2.5 assists in 96 games with the Kings and Bucks. He has appeared in six games for Milwaukee this season.

Herd guard Jaylen Adams and Maine Red Claws guard Tremont Waters finished second and third, respectively, in voting for the 2019-20 NBA G League Most Valuable Player Award.

The NBA G League canceled the remainder of its 2019-20 season on June 4. The regular season was suspended on March 12 and had been scheduled to conclude on March 28.

NBA G League Most Valuable Players

2019-20: Frank Mason III (Wisconsin Herd)

2018-19: Chris Boucher (Raptors 905)

2017-18: Lorenzo Brown (Raptors 905)

2016-17: Vander Blue (Los Angeles D-Fenders)

2015-16: Jarnell Stokes (Sioux Falls Skyforce)

2014-15: Tim Frazier (Maine Red Claws)

2013-14: Ron Howard (Fort Wayne Mad Ants)

Othyus Jeffers (Iowa Energy)

2012-13: Andrew Goudelock (Rio Grande Valley Vipers)

2011-12: Justin Dentmon (Austin Toros)

2010-11: Curtis Stinson (Iowa Energy)

2009-10: Mike Harris (Rio Grande Valley Vipers)

2008-09: Courtney Sims (Iowa Energy)

2007-08: Kasib Powell (Sioux Falls Skyforce)

2006-07: Randy Livingston (Idaho Stampede)

2005-06: Marcus Fizer (Austin Toros)

2004-05: Matt Carroll (Roanoke Dazzle)

2003-04: Tierre Brown (Charleston Lowgators)

2002-03: Devin Brown (Fayetteville Patriots)

2001-02: Ansu Sesay (Greenville Groove)