NBA Awards Went to Giannis, Luka, Gobert, Williams, Siakam and Mike Budenholzer

NBA season 2018/19 is ended officially last night, at the award ceremony held in Los Angeles. The best players in specific categories received honors.

The NBA MVP trophy went to Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic won Rookie of the Year Award, Rudy Gobert defended his Defensive Player of the Year status, Pascal Siakam was the Most Improved Players, while Lou Williams won the Sixth Player of the Year.

Milwaukee’s Mike Budenholzer is the best coach this season.

In general, there wasn’t any drama, and everything went as expected. After all, these guys were the favorites for their awards, and they undoubtedly deserved that.

Giannis became the second Buck to win this award, besides Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. With 27.7 points, 12.5 boards and 5.9 dimes, 1.5 blocks and 1.3 steals, shooting from the field 59%, the Greek Freak was unstoppable. He was the first choice during the voting 78 times, compared to 23 James Harden was.

His Bucks had league’s best record and were the most dominant force in the NBA throughout the regular part of the season. They would later stop in the Eastern Conference finals, when Toronto Raptors eliminated them.

Giannis is the lowest pick along Steve Nash who managed to win the NBA MVP award, being picked from the 15th place.

Meanwhile, the award for the best coach also went to Milwaukee, proving that this team became the true powerhouse in the NBA. Mike Bundenholzer’s impact on Bucks’ game is noticeable all over the place. The former Atlanta Hawks HC won this prestigious award for the second time in his career. Previously he was named the CoY in 2015, while in Georgia. Budenholzer became the seventh person in history to lead two different teams to 60+ wins in one season.

Luka Doncic came into the league breaking and destroying everything which stood in his way. The young Slovenian set numerous records in many categories, becoming the best rookie since LeBron James when looking at the stats. He is undoubtedly the best newcomer in the league in the league since King James arrived. With 21.2 points, 7.8 boards, 6 assists in 32.2 minutes on the floor, Doncic led his Mavericks, in becoming one of the most promising teams in the entire league.

Rudy Gobert is NBA’s best defender for the second straight year. Utah’s big man is the first since Kawhi to win back-to-back DPoY awards. His presence in the paint has been one of the keys reasons why Utah became one stable team, and a regular playoff participant. There have been some changes over in Salt Lake regarding the roster, and it can be expected that they make one step forward this season.

Nobody questioned Lou Williams’ choice for the Sixth Man of the Year. The Clippers guard and one of the most lethal finishers in today’s basketball was the motor of Doc Rivers’ team. This was his third trophy in this category, joining Jamal Crawford. He also became only the third player in history to win it twice in a row.

And for the end, we saved the Most Improved Player award which went to Toronto. Pascal Siakam’s performances were something that nobody could predict. Many are saying that it was he who made it possible for the Raptors to win the title, not Kawhi, because Siakam’s production on both sides of the floor was the X-factor in each game. Not only did he improve offensively, but became one of the best defenders in the league.