The 2017 NBA Awards finalists have been announced and the outrage is already wild. The top three candidates were given out yesterday in preparation for the official NBA award show on June 26th. The biggest snub, according to the masses, seems to be LeBron James. His omission appears extra criminal because of how dominant he has been in the playoffs. Alas, it is a regular season award and LeBron was not what he is now all season long. Here is the complete list of finalists.
2017 Most Improved Player
Rudy Gobert
Nikola Jokic
Giannis Antetokounmpo
2017 Sixth Man of the Year
Eric Gordon
Lou Williams
Andre Iguodala
2017 Defensive Player of the Year
Kawhi Leonard
Rudy Gobert
Draymond Green
2017 Rookie of the Year
Joel Embiid
Malcolm Brogdon
Dario Saric
2017 Coach of the Year
Erik Spoelstra
Mike D’Antoni
Gregg Popovich
2017 NBA MVP
Kawhi Leonard
Russell Westbrook
James Harden
One thing about this list that is pretty incredible to see is Kawhi Lenoard in the top 3 of the MVP and DPOY 2017 NBA awards. Even though it seemed inevitable it is a testament to how great he really is all around on the basketball court. Also, despite LeBron’s beatdown of the Celtics he chose to not care.
It appears that LeBron James is not bothered by being excluded as a finalist for the NBA MVP award.pic.twitter.com/l7Sm43t9xr
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) May 20, 2017
