Harden named NBA Most Valuable Player
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — James Harden of the Houston Rockets is the NBA’s Most Valuable Player.
He joined Michael Jordan as the only players to average at least 20 points, eight assists, five rebounds and 1.7 steals in a season.
Harden led the league in scoring, three-pointers and 50-point games with four while helping the Rockets to a league-leading 65 wins.
Harden beat out four-time winner LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans.
He received the trophy at the NBA Awards on Monday night. Harden, who is from Los Angeles, led his mother on stage and credited her for being his backbone.
Dwane Casey won the Coach of the Year award for his work with his former team, the Toronto Raptors.
He was fired last month and has since become coach of the Detroit Pistons.
Casey led the Raptors to the No. 1 seed in the East for the first time in franchise history. Toronto won a team-record 59 games. Casey coached the East in the All-Star Game for the first time.
Casey won over Quin Snyder of Utah and Brad Stevens of Boston.
Rookie of the year went to Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers.
The guard averaged 15 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, joining Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson as Dwane Casey led the Raptors to 59 victories and the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
the only rookies to post those numbers in a season.
Simmons helped Philadelphia to a 52-30 record, including ending the season with a 16-game winning streak.
He beat out finalists Donovan Mitchell of Utah and Jayson Tatum of Boston.
The Los Angeles Clippers’ Lou Williams was named Sixth Man of the Year.
The guard became the first player to average at least 20 points for the first time in his 13th season or later. He led the league in fourth-quarter points and scoring average.
He beat out Houston’s Eric Gordon, last year’s winner, and Fred VanVleet of Toronto.
Williams kissed his two young daughters on his way to the stage after becoming the Clippers’ third winner in
the past five years.
Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz was named Defensive Player of the Year.
The center was the leading vote-getter for the league’s All-Defensive first team.
Gobert anchored a Jazz defense that ranked second in the NBA in defensive rating.
He beat out the Pelicans’ Davis and Joel Embiid of Philadelphia.
Victor Oladipo of the Indiana Pacers was named Most Improved Player.
The guard averaged 23.1 points in his first season with the Pacers. He also earned his first All-Star appearance.
Oladipo also led the league in steals for the first time.
He beat out Clint Capela of Houston and Spencer Dinwiddie of the Brooklyn Nets.