The NBA today announced the finalists for six major awards that honor top performers from the 2016-17 regular season.
The winners for these awards will be revealed on the same night for the first time during the inaugural NBA Awards on TNT, which will be hosted by platinum-selling recording artist Drake on Monday, June 26 (9 p.m. ET) live from Basketball City in New York.
The finalists for the six awards, based on voting results from a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters, are below:
NBA Most Valuable Player
- James Harden, Houston Rockets
- Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs
- Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder
NBA Rookie of the Year
- Malcolm Brogdon, Milwaukee Bucks
- Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
- Dario Saric, Philadelphia 76ers
NBA Sixth Man Award
- Eric Gordon, Houston Rockets
- Andre Iguodala, Golden State Warriors
- Lou Williams, Houston Rockets
NBA Defensive Player of the Year
- Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz
- Draymond Green,Golden State Warriors
- Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs
NBA Most Improved Player
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
- Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz
- Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
NBA Coach of the Year
- Mike D’Antoni, Houston Rockets
- Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs
- Erik Spoelstra, Miami Heat
In addition to the five NBA Performance Awards and the NBA Coach of the Year, the NBA Awards will feature six new fan-voted award categories: Dunk of the Year, Best Style, Block of the Year, Assist of the Year, Game Winner of the Year and Top Performance of the Year. Fans can vote at NBA.com/nbaawards as well as on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
The NBA Awards will also include the NBA All-Rookie Team, NBA All-Defensive Team, NBA Basketball Executive of the Year, Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award, NBA Sportsmanship Award and the Seasonlong NBA Cares Community Assist Award.