2017 NBA Awards Show results

The 2017 NBA Awards Show was awkward as hell, but we finally know who all the winners from the 2016-17 NBA season are.

The NBA held its first ever awards show, and though it was incredibly awkward at times and about two months too late, we finally know who all the award winners are from the 2016-17 campaign.

After one of the most enjoyable regular seasons we’ve seen in quite some time, the 2017 NBA Playoffs and 2017 NBA Awards Show didn’t quite live up to the hype. However, having a separate awards show is a good idea in and of itself, even if the formula needs some serious tweaking before next year.

Drake was actually pretty funny as a host, not holding back in the slightest with his jokes, but without a general audience, it was really just a bunch of NBA players and executives dressed up real nice with their families trying to be on their best behavior.

In any case, here’s what you really care about: the 2016-17 NBA Awards winners.

Rookie of the Year: Malcolm Brogdon

Pitted against two exceptional Philadelphia 76ers rookies, Milwaukee Bucks rookie Malcolm Brogdon didn’t quite have the numbers to compare to the other two finalists.

• Saric:  12.8 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 2.2 APG, 0.7 SPG, .411/.311/.782 shooting
• Embiid:  20.2 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 2.5 BPG, 2.1 APG, 0.9 SPG, .466/.367/.783 shooting
• Brogdon:  10.2 PPG, 4.2 APG, 2.8 RPG, 1.1 SPG, .457/.404/.865 shooting

However, the second round pick played a prominent role on a playoff team, holding a large edge in efficiency and starting in 28 games of his 74 games for a vastly superior squad, which seems to have been enough for the voters.

Embiid was having one of the greatest rookie seasons in NBA history, but injuries and planned rest limited him to only 31 games. Saric was another quality choice as well, but most of his candidacy revolved around a small 25-game sample size after the All-Star break where he put up exceptional numbers. Brogdon was the right choice here.

Sixth Man of the Year: Eric Gordon

When his tenure with the New Orleans Pelicans ended last summer, many thought the injury-prone Eric Gordon was on a steady decline that would soon lead him out of the league.

Luckily for pretty much everyone except Pelicans fans, Gordon revitalized his career in his first season with the Houston Rockets. Not only did he play in 75 games to make good on his new contract, but he also averaged 16.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game while shooting 37.2 percent from three-point range.

With James Harden at the point and Gordon coming off the bench, Houston’s high-powered offense was a beauty to behold. EG beat out Lou Williams (whose best numbers came on a losing team with the Los Angeles Lakers) and Andre Iguodala (who is the most important sixth man in the league on a juggernaut, but didn’t quite have the raw numbers to bring home the award).

Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award: Dirk Nowitzki

Dirk Nowitzki won the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award, and the only other thing that needs to be said is never leave us, Dirk.

Assist of the Year: Stephen Curry and Draymond Green to Kevin Durant

The Golden State Warriors took home another award thanks to Draymond Green‘s full-court touchdown pass to Stephen Curry, which he flipped backward up over his head to Kevin Durant for the monster alley-oop to win Assist of the Year.

The play beat out Chris Paul‘s incredible wrap-around assist and Nikola Jokic‘s no-look, over the head pass.

https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/878643907143188481

Block of the Year: Kawhi Leonard

It’s only fitting that a two-time Defensive Player of the Year won Block of the Year. Kawhi Leonard‘s game-saving block on James Harden was one of the most memorable defensive plays from the 2016-17 campaign, especially since it assured victory for the San Antonio Spurs in a head-to-head matchup between two MVP candidates.

Kawhi’s block beat out Hassan Whiteside‘s monster block and Kristaps Porzingis‘ unkind rejection, both of whom grabbed the ball straight out of the air and came down with it in one smooth movement.

Dunk of the Year: Victor Oladipo

Larry Nance Jr.‘s sky-high dunk probably deserved more love, as did Zach LaVine‘s vicious posterization of seven-footer Alex Len, but Victor Oladipo brought home the Dunk of the Year award for his double-pump, two-handed slam on Dwight Howard.

It wasn’t an outright posterization, but Oladipo gets extra style points for the deft in-flight maneuvering.

Sportsmanship Winner: Kemba Walker

Kemba Walker won the 2017 NBA Sportsmanship Award. We honestly almost forgot this was a thing with all the other awards being thrown around at a rapid-fire rate, but good for Kemba and the Charlotte Hornets.

NBA Lifetime Achievement Award: Bill Russell

Leave it to the most successful champion in NBA history like Bill Russell to show up and win that awards show. While receiving his NBA Lifetime Achievement Award, the Boston Celtics legend didn’t appear to know where he was at first.

Then, after pointing to each one of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Alonzo Mourning, Shaquille O’Neal, David Robinson and Dikembe Mutombo, he told them, “I would kick your ass.”

Thank you, Bill. We needed someone to take away some of the awkwardness.

Most Improved Player of the Year: Giannis Antetokounmpo

This was the most clear-cut decision of the night, with the Bucks earning their second award thanks to Giannis Antetokounmpo winning the Most Improved Player of the Year.

Averaging 22.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.9 blocks and 1.6 steals per game, the Greek Freak led his team in all five categories and was the only player to finish in the top 20 in the league for every category.

Nikola Jokic and Rudy Gobert made great strides in their games this season, but Antetokounmpo made a massive leap from pretty good player on the rise to legitimate superstar and All-NBA Third Team selection. It might not be long before the league belongs to this 22-year-old.

Executive of the Year: Bob Myers

The Golden State Warriors added Kevin Durant over the summer. Duh.

Coach of the Year: Mike D’Antoni

It wasn’t long ago that Mike D’Antoni‘s teams in New York and Los Angeles nearly played him out of the league. But after a revitalized season in Houston, the Pringles man was more than deserving of the 2016-17 Coach of the Year Award.

The Rockets were considered a fringe playoff team heading into the season, but under Mike D’s direction and with the help of a world-class distributor in Harden, their historic, three-point heavy offense led to the third seed in the West and 55 wins.

D’Antoni edged Spurs guru Gregg Popovich and Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra for the award. It must have been sweet being able to accept his award in a city where he was once ran out of town….

Game-winner of the Year: Russell Westbrook

No offense to Tyler Ulis of the Phoenix Suns or Kyrie Irving for his Christmas Day game-winner over the Warriors, but Russell Westbrook‘s game-winner over the Denver Nuggets was the easy choice.

Not only did his 50-point, 16-rebound, 10-assist performance give him the record-breaking triple-double No. 42, but it also featured an unforgettable buzzer-beater on the road to officially eliminate the Nuggets from the playoffs.

All three game-winners were insane, but Westbrook’s performance takes the cake here.

https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/879112142947004418

Performance of the Year: Klay Thompson

The nominees for Performance of the Year were absolutely stacked. Devin Booker dropping 70 points — the 10th-highest scoring performance in NBA history — didn’t win.

Russell Westbrook’s 57-13-11 triple-double in a win over the Orlando Magic didn’t either. Even James Harden’s historic 53-point, 17-assist, 16-rebound triple-double — the first 50-15-15 game in NBA history — was not enough to win the award.

However, one could hardly argue with the winner: Klay Thompson‘s career-high 60 points in only 29 minutes...on only 11 dribbles. That kind of efficiency is unparalleled in NBA history.

Best Playoff Moment: Kevin Durant

Isaiah Thomas had a sensational 53-point performance in a big Game 2 win over the Washington Wizards, and John Wall‘s three-pointer to force a Game 7 was one of the best moments in the playoffs to that point, but this one wasn’t close either.

In Game 3 of the 2017 NBA Finals, the Cleveland Cavaliers had a two-point lead with less than a minute to play. Kevin Durant grabbed a rebound, came down the court, pulled up from three and drilled a long ball right over LeBron James.

The Dubs won the game, took the wind out of Cleveland’s sails and won the title in five games. No contest.

Defensive Player of the Year: Draymond Green

This probably should’ve been Draymond Green’s second Defensive Player of the Year Award (don’t forget, he earned more first place votes in 2014-15), but better late than never!

The Golden State Warriors’ most versatile player — and perhaps one of the most versatile defenders in league history — finally has a DPOY to his name after being the only player in the NBA this year to average at least 2.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per game.

He finished second in defensive win shares, second in defensive rating and was the centerpiece of the league’s second-stingiest defense. His versatility and nearly identical rim protection numbers compared to Rudy Gobert — despite being six inches shorter — made him more than deserving, even if the French Rejection and Kawhi Leonard were also quality candidates.

#SagerStrong Award: Monty Williams

We weren’t expecting to break out the tissues tonight, but this was one of the best moments of the NBA’s inaugural awards show.

MVP: Russell Westbrook

Full disclosure: I originally had James Harden as my 2016-17 MVP, but all three finalists in this category were 100 percent deserving. It’s also hard to argue with averaging a triple-double for an entire season.

That’s exactly what Westbrook did this year while carrying a disappointing Oklahoma City Thunder team, averaging a league-leading 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists per game. He wasn’t the most efficient shooter, but OKC won 47 games with very little help thanks to his nightly, superhuman efforts in his first season without Kevin Durant.

Harden’s 29-11-8 stat line is about as impressive as you can get and his Rockets won eight more games than Russ’ team, while Kawhi’s team won 14 more games. However, Leonard’s numbers didn’t quite compare and another historic season from Harden just narrowly missed out on MVP recognition compared to a slightly more historic season.

Don’t sweat it though, Rockets fans. Even if he didn’t earn the MVP Award, Harden found something else that captured his attention.

Russell Westbrook brought out his teammates to stand on stage with him in a classy, team-first move, before giving his heartfelt thank you’s to his parents.

Next: 2017 NBA Draft grades for all 30 teams

In perhaps the most loaded MVP race in league history, Russell Westbrook emerged as the winner. Now hopefully next year, the performances — and an improved awards show — can somehow top this year’s.