The long-awaited NBA awards show was finally held on Monday night in New York City. For the first time ever, NBA announced it's individual season awards on the Awards Show that was held after the season ended. The show was hosted by Drake, in front of a sellout New York City crowd that was anxious to see who are the winners of this season's individual awards. The most interesting part was to see who will end up as the league MVP, considering that some of the nominees had extraordinary seasons with their respective clubs.
Kia NBA Most Valuable Player
No surprise here.
Although many thought that maybe James Harden or Kawhi Leonard have some chances of winning this award, Russell Westbrook deservingly took home the trophy. He is the MVP of the league for the 2016/2017 season and rightfully so. Westbrook became the first player in 55 years (since Oscar Robertson) to average a triple-double during the regular season and finished the 2016/2017 campaign with 42 triple-doubles. Congratulations to Westbrook on his first ever MVP award.
A BIG thank you from the 2016-17 KIA NBA Most Valuable Player, @russwest44. #NBAAwards pic.twitter.com/KggYigHChu
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) 27. lipnja 2017.
Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year
Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors was named the Defensive Player of the Year for the past season.
Green was the anchor of Warriors' defense, often guarding the opponent's best player. He led the league in steals with 2.03 steals per game, and also averaged 7.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. Congratulations to Draymond Green.
NBA Coach of the Year
Coach of the Year award went to Mike D'Antoni, the head coach of the Houston Rockets.
Led by D'Antoni, the Rockets finished at the third place in Western Conference standings with a 55-27 record. They were bounced in the second-round of the playoffs by the San Antonio Spurs. This is the second time in D'Antoni's career that he has won this award, as he was also the Coach of the Year in 2004/2005 season with the Phoenix Suns.
Congratulations to Mike D'Antoni.
Mike D'Antoni accepts the 2016-2017 @NBA Coach of the Year Award. #NBAAwards pic.twitter.com/MC4rT9JNp7
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) 27. lipnja 2017.
Kia Most Improved Player
Milwaukee Bucks' star, Giannis Antetokounmpo was named the Kia Most Improved Player for the past season. Antetokounmpo became the first Bucks player to win this award, as he led his team in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks during the 2016/2017 season. Impressive, to say the least. Congratulations to the "Greek Freak".
Kia NBA Sixth Man Award
Houston Rockets' Eric Gordon won the NBA Sixth Man award. Gordon came off the bench for the Rockets and averaged 16.2 points per game. He made a career-high 246 3-pointers in the 2016-17 campaign.
Congratulations to Eric Gordon.
Kia NBA Rookie of the Year
The point guard of the Milwaukee Bucks, Malcolm Brogdon, took home the Kia NBA Rookie of the Year award. Brogdon was the 36th overall pick in last year's draft, and he averaged 10.2 points and 4.2 assists in 75 games played with the Bucks this past season. He became the second player in franchise history to win this award, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who won it during the 1969-70 season. Congratulations to Brogdon.
