2017 NBA Awards: Green, Antetokounmpo, Westbrook And Brogdon Take Home Hardware

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Fan Insider
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Hosted by Drake and with appearances by Will Ferrell, 2 Chainz, and Nicki Minaj, the inaugural NBA Awards Show had plenty of unforgettable moments.

But nothing will top what Bill Russell did (see below).

The first-ever NBA Awards were announced Monday Night at the at Basketball City at Pier 36 in New York City and here are all of the results.

Malcolm Brogdon Wins Rookie of The Year

History was made as Milwaukee Bucks guard Malcolm Brogdon beat out the Philadelphia 76ers duo of Dario Saric and Joel Embiid to win Rookie of the Year honors.

Brogdon became the first second-round draft pick to win the award as the sharpshooter was the 36th overall pick in the last year’s NBA Draft. The 6-foot-5, 215-pounder averaged 10.2 points and 4.2 assists this past season and shot more than 40 percent from beyond the arc.

Brogdon is also the first player to win ACC Player of the Year and then Rookie of the Year honors since Elton Brand did so back in 1999-00.  Brogdon also helped lead the Bucks back to playoffs, where they lost to the Toronto Raptors in the first round.

Giannis Antetokounmpo Wins Most Improved Player

Known as the “Greek Freak”, or the “human highlight reel,” Milwaukee forward Giannis Antetokounmpo became just the fifth player in NBA history to lead his team in points, assists, rebounds, blocks and steals in a single season.

The 6-foot-11, 222-pounder can play every position on the floor and his stats showed it. The third-year player out of Greece nearly averaged a double-double throughout the playoffs as he scored 24.8 points, had 9.5 rebounds to go with 4.1 assists, 2.2 steals and shot 40 percent from beyond the arc.

Antetokounmpo also became just the first Bucks player to win the award.

 

Assist of the Year

A pass leading to a tomahawk, windmill or baseline dunk is usually good enough to take home the assist of the Year, but not this year.

A full-court alley-oop dunk from Draymond Green to Stephen Curry and to Kevin Durant was easily the assist of the year to cap off a championship year for the Golden State Warriors.

The Block Of The Year

There were plenty of great blocks this season, but the top 3 voted on by the fans came down to Kawhi Leonard, Kristaps Porzingis, and Hassan Whiteside.

But in the end, Leonard’s block on Houston’s James Harden was just too good.

With the Rockets up one late in the fourth quarter, Leonard stepped up to hit what turned out to be the game-winning shot over the outstretched arms of Nene to give the Spurs a two-point edge with just 25 seconds left in the game.

The Rockets quickly inbounded the ball to MVP candidate James Harden, who then drove hard to the basket looking to tie the game up. However, Harden’s shot was pinned against the glass by Leonard to give the Spurs the victory.

Russell Westbrook Wins Game-Winner Of The Year

Victor Oladipo Wins Dunk Of The Year

Eric Gordon Wins Sixth Man Award

After taking home the three-point contest earlier this year, Houston’s Eric Gordon wasn’t done taking home awards as the sharpshooter beat out his fellow teammate Lou Williams and Golden State’s Andre Iguodala to win the Sixth Man awardMonday night.

The 6-foot-4, 215-pounder became the first player in Rockets history to win the award as the three-point specialist made a career-high 246 3’s this season, with 206 of those coming off the bench.

Draymond Green Wins Defensive Player Of The Year

Klay Thompson’s 60 points In 29 Minutes Is Your Performance Of The Year

Houston’s Mike D’Antoni Wins Coach Of The Year

Quote Of The Night

Bill Russell was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award which was presented to him by NBA legends Shaquille O’Neal, Abdul-Jabbar, David Robinson and Dikembe Mutombo. After he was given the award, Russell had the whole crowd laughing when he started talking some smack to the Hall-of-Famers saying, “I would kick your a–.”

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