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When you put up numbers not seen before in the history of professional basketball in America, it’s little doubt that you probably should be the most valuable player. And yet, this year’s NBA MVP race has somehow found a way to be one of the most interesting and hotly contested in recent memory.
Russell Westbrook is the 2016-17 KIA NBA Most Valuable Player! #NBAAwards pic.twitter.com/5dXUwgEuIn
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) June 27, 2017
Westbrook’s incredible year saw him *average* a triple-double for the entire season, putting up 31.6 points, 10.4 assists, and 10.7 rebounds per game, in a year that also saw him register a triple-double 42 times, eclipsing the mark set by the legendary Oscar Robertson way back in 1961-62; one of those records that many thought would never be broken, given how the modern game is played.
“I look up to you.” –@russwest44‘s message to his brother during his 2016-17 KIA MVP acceptance speech. #NBAAwards pic.twitter.com/RTQOB8BonJ
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) June 27, 2017
Elsewhere, Draymond Green took home the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award, Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni was awarded Coach of the Year, Milwaukee’s Greek freak Giannis Antetokounmpo scored Most Improved Player, Houston journeyman Eric Gordon received the coveted Sixth Man of the Year award, and Bucks’ young gun Malcolm Brogdon won the league’s Rookie of the Year gong.