SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) —Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz has won Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season at the NBA Awards.
The 26-year-old center from France beat out Giannis Antetokounmpo of Milwaukee and Paul George of Oklahoma City.
”I never thought I would be able to do that when I started basketball playing in France,” Gobert said backstage. ”I didn’t know an NBA player, I didn’t know nothing about basketball. I was just having fun.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks has won Most Valuable Player honors at the NBA Awards.
The 24-year-old forward from Greece beat out Paul George of Oklahoma City and James Harden of Houston, who won last year.
Antetokounmpo earned All-NBA first-team honors this season, his sixth with the Bucks. He led the franchise to the best record in the regular season and the Bucks fell two games short of reaching the NBA Finals.
He averaged 27.7 points and 12.5 rebounds. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he thanked his teammates during his speech.
Larry Bird and Magic Johnson have received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the NBA Awards.
The former rivals took turns holding their trophies while each other spoke Monday night.
Milwaukee’s Mike Budenholzer has won Coach of the Year honors for the second time in his career at the NBA Awards.
He guided the Bucks to a 60-22 record in the regular season in his first year with the franchise, leading them to the Eastern Conference finals, where they lost to eventual NBA champion Toronto.
Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards has received the NBA Cares Community Assist honor at the NBA Awards.
The guard accepted the award accompanied by two young boys he has worked with in the Washington area.
Lou Williams has won the Sixth Man of the Year at the NBA Awards for the second season in a row and third time in his career.
The guard also won last year with the Los Angeles Clippers. His first honor came in 2015 with Toronto.
Mike Conley Jr., newly traded to the Utah Jazz, has won Teammate and Sportsmanship of the Year honors at the NBA Awards.
Conley earned the awards for his 12-year tenure with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Backstage, Conley called the awards the result of respect from his peers in the league. He thanked his parents for the way he was raised.
Pascal Siakam of the NBA champion Toronto Raptors has won the Most Improved Player at the NBA Awards.
The 25-year-old from Cameroon averaged 16.9 points and started 79 of 80 regular-season games for the Raptors in his third year with the team.
Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks has won Rookie of the Year at the NBA Awards.
The 20-year-old small forward from Slovenia accepted his trophy from RJ Barrett, who went to the New York Knicks as the No. 3 pick in the NBA draft last week.
