Houston‘s James Harden and Cleveland‘s LeBron James are among the finalists for the NBA’s MVP award, and Philadelphia‘s Ben Simmons and Utah‘s Donovan Mitchell are among the finalists for the Rookie of the Year honor, the league announced Wednesday.
Most awards will be voted on by a panel of 100 media members. Fans will get to vote for several awards. The results will be announced June 25 during a televised show in Los Angeles.
New Orleans big man Anthony Davis rounds out the finalists for the MVP award.
Boston‘s Jayson Tatum is the third finalist for the Rookie of the Year award.
These are the finalists for the other awards:
Defensive Player of the Year: Davis (Pelicans), Joel Embiid (76ers), Rudy Gobert (Jazz)
Coach of the Year: Dwane Casey (Toronto Raptors), Quin Snyder (Jazz), Brad Stevens (Celtics)
Most Improved Player: Clint Capela (Rockets), Spencer Dinwiddie (Brooklyn Nets), Victor Oladipo (Indiana Pacers)
Sixth Man of the Year: Eric Gordon (Rockets), Lou Williams (LA Clippers), Fred VanVleet (Raptors)
Among the MVP candidates, James put together a strong case in the regular season. The 33-year-old didn’t miss a game for the first time in his career and averaged 27.5 points, 8.6 rebounds and 9.1 assists per game while making 54 percent of his shots. James played an NBA-leading 36.9 minutes per game.
Harden was the best player on the NBA’s best regular-season team. The guard helped the Rockets win 65 games while leading the league in scoring (30.4 points) and handing out 8.8 assists per game. He was the No. 1 player on the league’s No. 1 offense. Harden’s former teammate in Oklahoma City, Russell Westbrook, was named MVP last season.
Davis ranked second in the NBA in per-game scoring (28.1), fifth in rebounding (11.1) and first in blocks (2.6). He fueled the Pelicans following the season-ending Achilles injury to fellow big man DeMarcus Cousins