For the first time in NBA history, regular-season awards were announced during a special show that happened after the playoffs. Fans were disappointed as they had to wait for almost two weeks to find out who the winners are. Fortunately, the wait has come to an end as the fans finally got what they were waiting for a long time!
There were six award winners to be handed out, but the biggest award was the MVP award. This year, it was won by Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who had a fantastic season. Beside Westbrook, James Harden (Houston Rockets) and Kawhi Leonard (San Antonio Spurs) were candidates for this prestigious award.
At the end, it was awarded to the man who averaged a triple-double in both regular seasons and the playoffs.
Two-man MVP race
Make no mistake, Kawhi Leonard had a fantastic season and his team was one of the best in the entire league. Leonard averaged career-high 25.5 points, along with 5.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.8 steals and 0.7 blocks per game. The Spurs finished the season with 61 wins, which was second-most in the league and Kawhi dominated his opponents on both ends of the floor. However, this year's MVP race was all about two players: Russell Westbrook and James Harden.
With 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists per game, Russell Westbrook joined Oscar Robertson as the only players to average triple-double in a single NBA season.
Beside setting many other NBA and team records, Westbrook also averaged triple-double in the playoffs. The biggest argument against Westbrook's MVP case was his inefficiency and the fact that his team won only 47 games.
On the other side, James Harden led his Rockets to 55 wins which were the third-best record in the NBA. Harden was put at a point guard position and he led the league in assists with 11.2 per game.
He also averaged 29.1 points and 8.1 rebounds, having by far the most amazing season of his career. While there weren't many arguments against Harden's MVP case, many people simply believed the award should go to Westbrook because of his triple-double season average.
NBA guards as MVP winners
This will be the third straight season that a guard won NBA MVP award as Stephen Curry won it in 2015 and 2016.
Before Curry and Westbrook, there were Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. Johnson won two straight MVP awards in 1989 and 1990 and then Jordan won it in 1991 and repeated as the MVP a year after.
Can Westbrook do what Jordan did and win another MVP award next year?
