At the end of every season at the conclusion of the playoffs, the NBA announces the winners of each individual award in the league. However, before that, the NBA announces a shortlist of finalists for each award.
That announcement has officially been made, with the NBA Communications Twitter account revealing each of the finalists for the awards. A lot of names on this list were no surprise to anyone, but there were some glaring omissions, such as Jordan Poole in the Most Improved Player category.
2021-22 NBA Awards finalists: pic.twitter.com/CmpAs7tquF
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 17, 2022
Most Valuable Player: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic
Defensive Player of the Year: Mikal Bridges, Rudy Gobert, Marcus Smart
Rookie of the Year: Scottie Barnes, Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley
Most Improved Player: Darius Garland, Ja Morant, Dejounte Murray
Sixth Man of the Year: Tyler Herro, Cam Johnson, Kevin Love
Coach of the Year: Taylor Jenkins, Erik Spoelstra, Monty Williams
There is no doubt that these are some deserving finalists for each award. The MVP race, in particular, has been very heated this year, with many people debating about whether Joel Embiid or Nikola Jokic should win the MVP award. Either big man would be deserving of the honor, as both have had seasons that would undoubtedly get them MVP selections in other seasons.
As of now though, the NBA world will be more focused on the playoffs that are happening right now. Many have already expressed their excitement at the Boston Celtics-Brooklyn Nets series, as the first game in Boston was incredibly close and was won off of a Jayson Tatum buzzer-beating layup.
Hopefully, the playoffs are a good watch for the fans, and there have already been some upsets, such as when the Memphis Grizzlies lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Memphis. It will definitely be interesting to see who ends up winning each individual award tho, but we’ll have to wait until after the postseason for that to be revealed.
