Russell Westbrook Wins MVP, Full NBA Awards Breakdown

With 3 finalists, the MVP award was the talk of the NBA Awards Show. This year the NBA tried something different, holding an event for the awards in New York City, “The Basketball City”. The full list of NBA awards is below, but Jake and Camdyn highlight some awards as well.

Russell Westbrook took home the 2017 NBA MVP. Russ dominated this season averaging a triple double. He averaged 31.6 points per game, 10.7 rebounds per game, and 10.4 assists per game. He also broke Oscar Robertson’s single season triple double record of 41 triple doubles with 43 triple doubles! As a point guard 10.7 rebounds per game is pretty impressive if you ask me. At 6’3” Westbrook really needs to get up and show off his hops in order to grab some rebounds over taller opponents who maybe 6’11”, 7’0”, or even 7’1”. Russ had one heck of a year, but the two other finalists James Harden and Kawhi Leonard. This season James Harden had a nice stat line as well. He averaged 29.1 points per game, 8.1 rebounds per game, and 11.2 assists per game. Harden rally showed off his passing game this season and I think that was a key role in the Rockets success this year. What I really think killed Harden was how he performed in the playoffs, he wasn't too hot at the end of the season and I think that is what prevented him from being this year's NBA MVP. The last finalist was Kawhi Leonard from the San Antonio Spurs. Leonard averaged 25.5 points per game, 5.8 rebounds per game, and 3.5 assists per game. Not only did Leonard do work on the offensive side of the ball, he also did work on the defensive side too, averaging 1.8 steals per game, and 0.7 blocks per game. This may sound stupid to some people but I think the reason Kawhi didn’t win MVP is because he’s underrated. Yes he was an NBA MVP finalist, yes he’s an All-Star, but Russ, and Harden steal the show. Especially Russ. With KD leaving OKC this past offseason all the attention was on Russ and how he would perform without KD. The attention was on him from July 4th when KD signed with Golden State, until April 25th when the Thunder fell to the Houston Rockets in game 5 of the 1st round of the Western Conference playoffs. So pretty much Russell Westbrook went OFF this year averaging a triple double and won the 2017 NBA MVP.

It wasn’t just the MVP award that highlighted this year's award show. But for me it was the Craig Sager Award. This year the Sager Jacket was awarded to Oklahoma City Thunder Assistant Coach Monty Williams. It was one of the emotional highpoints of the night, other than Russell Westbrook’s MVP speech. Last year, the Williams family lost their mother in a two car crash. With 5 kids at home, Monty knew it wouldn’t an easy ride for his family. In this acceptance speech all he wanted to do was thank god, his words of wisdom made the speech emotional. The opening segment by Ernie Johnson was emotional, as Craig was one of Ernie’s best friends. “Time is simply how you live your life”. “Craig would have wanted us to shine his light on someone else”.Watch the speech below.

The Rookie of the Year award stood out among others. Malcolm Brogdon captured this year's award. One of the first second round draft picks to ever win the award. Brogdon averaged 10.2 points and 4.2 assists per game while hitting more than 40 percent of his three-point attempts. He was also one of just two players from his draft class to average more than 20 minutes per game for a playoff team.

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By Jake Martino and Camdyn Ames

Craig Sager Award Speech

MEDIA-VOTED AWARDS

Kia NBA Most Valuable Player: Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder

Kia NBA Rookie of the Year: Malcolm Brogdon, Milwaukee Bucks

Kia NBA Most Improved Player: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks

Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year: Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors

Kia NBA Sixth Man Award: Eric Gordon, Houston Rockets

NBA Coach of the Year: Mike D’Antoni, Houston Rockets

NBA EXECUTIVE-VOTED AWARD

NBA Basketball Executive of the Year: Bob Myers, Golden State Warriors