Russell Westbrook wins three NBPA awards, including MVP
By Tony Heim
The NBA Player’s Association released their awards for the 2016-2017 season on Friday afternoon – Russell Westbrook took home 3 of the 15 awards.
One day after being named the odds-on favorite to win MVP by multiple bookies, Russell Westbrook received more good news. His fellow NBA players recognized Russ with three different awards in their third annual Players Voice Awards: Best Dressed, Hardest to Guard and Most Valuable Player.
Westbrook was one of three players to win multiple awards, joining LeBron James and Joel Embiid in the exclusive group. James and Embiid, however, only took home two awards. James won the Global Impact Player and Player You Secretly Wish Was On Your Team while Embiid won Comeback Player of the Year and Best Social Media Follow.
More from Thunderous Intentions
- Stealing one player from every Southwest Division team for the OKC Thunder
- Should the OKC Thunder chase after a disgruntled hometown hero?
- 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
- Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
- Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder
The MVP and Best Dressed is not a surprise – players gushed over Westbrook’s performance throughout the season and Sports Illustrated named him the Most Fashionable Athlete in the world a month ago. It’s the Hardest to Guard award that Russ should be the most proud of.
Russ isn’t exemplary in the most important facet of today’s NBA: shooting. He shot below average from both the field and from deep, yet the players understood the difficulty of the shots he was taking. Westbrook’s explosiveness with the ball is that powerful.
This is yet another career highlight from this offseason. He’s been named the MVP by the basketball media, the Best Athlete by the fans and now the MVP by his associates.
Congrats Mr. Westbrook.