Chapter 1, Problem 71E

The 2016 NBA MVP vote. The National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player is chosen using a modified Borda count. Each of the 131 voters (130 sportswriters from the U.S and Canada plus one aggregate vote from the fans) submits ballots ranking the top five players from 1st through 5th place. Table 1-46 shows the results of the 2016 vote. (For the first time in NBA history a single player—Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors—was the unanimous choice for first place.) Using the results shown in Table 1-46, determine the point value of each place on the ballot, and (this is the most important part) explain how you came up with the numbers (no looking it up on the web please!). [As usual, assume the point values are all positive integers and that 1st place is worth more than 2nd, 2nd is worth more than 3rd, and so on down the line.]

Table 1-46

Player(team)	1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place	4th Place	5th Place	Total Points
Stephen Curry (Golden State)	$131$	$0$	$0$	$0$	$0$	1310
Kawhi Leonard (San Antonio)	$0$	$54$	$34$	$26$	$8$	$634$
LeBron James (Cleveland)	$0$	$40$	$48$	$34$	$9$	$631$
Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City)	$0$	$29$	$37$	$28$	$14$	$486$
Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City)	$0$	$2$	$7$	$22$	$32$	$147$
Chris Paul (Los Angeles)	$0$	$4$	$3$	$9$	$37$	$107$
Draymond Green (Golden State)	$0$	$2$	$0$	$6$	$18$	$50$
Damian Lillard (Portland)	$0$	$0$	$1$	$4$	$9$	$26$
James Harden (Houston)	$0$	$0$	$1$	$1$	$1$	$9$
Kyle Lowry (Toronto)	$0$	$0$	$0$	$1$		$6$