Chapter 746: Chapter 746

The last award recipient is Brown.

Last season, Brown at the Brooklyn Nets averaged 30 minutes per game, scoring 17.8 points and 5.7 rebounds with shooting percentages of 45.1% in field goals and 36.2% in three-pointers.

In "history," Brown was not selected by the Celtics and didn’t get much playing time, but at the Brooklyn Nets, opportunities were plentiful.

Embiid’s stats were more outstanding than Brown’s, even stunning; he averaged 20.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, a rare feat for a rookie to achieve 20+ points in recent years.

However, last season, he only played in 31 games due to injuries, so this sample size wasn’t enough to impress the judges.

After the Rookie of the Year came the Sixth Man Award.

Originally, Wade had a good chance for this, but because he played as a starter with the Bulls and not enough as a substitute.

The award ultimately went to Louis Williams of the Rockets.

As the sixth man last season, Williams averaged 18 points per game, performing exceptionally well.

An interesting tidbit is that before going on stage, Williams hugged his two girlfriends.

Yes, one of those girlfriends is Ashley Henderson, who was Williams’ high school sweetheart and has borne him a son and a daughter.

The other one is Rice Mitchell, whom Williams started dating in 2014.

The two get along without causing drama and are good friends; Williams is truly the embodiment of a "life winner."

After the Sixth Man Award came the Best Teammate Award.

This award differs from those representing honors before, representing more league recognition with no candidates, directly appointed.

When the award presenter appeared, it caused a sensation because it was Kobe.

When the award result was announced, it explained why Kobe was the one presenting the award.

Because the recipient was Wade.

The League’s top shooting guard had retired, coming to present the award to the second shooting guard of the time.

Wade went on stage, received the trophy from Kobe, and shared a heartfelt hug, sparking applause and cheers.

This award ceremony had been criticized by many fans before because presenting regular season awards after the season ends seems a bit like an afterthought.

But from this arrangement, you can see that the league has put effort into it.

However, Wade truly deserved this award; among active league players, there is no better "good guy" than him.

Following this, several season best awards were gradually added, like Best Assist, Best Block, Best Dunk.

These awards were voted by the fans.

Hansen and Jokic created the Play of the Season; that was in the game against the Warriors where Hansen and Jokic ran a pick-and-roll, and then Jokic passed for JR to perform a windmill slam dunk.

After these minor awards, the ceremony went into a "halftime break."

At this moment, with the prelude of "The Nights," a montage started playing on the LED big screen at the venue.

Hansen’s attention was drawn to the clips edited inside.

It was an assemblage of scenes from the distant past, featuring young Kobe, Ray Allen, Iverson, Peja, Nowitzki, Carter, Mabry on the court.

These were figures Hansen had no interaction with but gave him a true sense of an era that existed at the turn of the century.

But afterwards, the montage switched to scenes of these figures aging and retiring, bringing a feeling of the passage of time and an era’s end.

Once past this segment, a live musical performance followed.

To Hansen’s slight dismay, most of this set was rap performances.

It seems like singing, rapping, and basketball are bound together, not just at East University.

During this performance, Harden contributed the classic moment of having "spicy chicken" Nikki Mina’s eyes glued to him.

That big booty was indeed Harden’s favorite.

In his past life, Hansen had seen the TMZ gossip, as Mina later wrote a new song called "Ball For Me," which contained a line like:

"My beauty shocks them, just like James Harden, drooling as he looks at me."

Harden was truly "taken advantage of" here, as opposed to Hansen, who was written into a song after a breakup; Harden only took one glance.

The first award after halftime was the Sportsmanship Award, which is quite interesting.

The recipient was Kemba Walker of the Hornets, with the award presented by Wall of the Wizards.

You should know that in the NBA, there are quite a few "face-blind combos," typically like Draymond Green and Brandon Bass, Crowder and Carroll, Livingston and Andre Miller, Butler and Jordan, etc.

This pair is similar.

So when Walker went on stage to accept the award, it’s hard not to think the league did it on purpose.

Next came the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The iconic scene in Hansen’s mind of "Russell pointing at the top five centers saying I’ll kick your butts" appeared here.

After a series of "minor awards," the main event of the second half gradually arrived.

The three candidates for Best Coach: Malone, Stevens, Popovich.

Finally, the award was announced, and Malone was chosen as Best Coach.

This was the first big award for the Cavaliers tonight.

Malone seemed very excited, and after receiving the trophy, he raised it above his head.

This is the energy of a young coach.

Despite the energy, Malone’s emotional intelligence is still high.

He thanked everyone from his wife to the management, to teammates, and then especially mentioned Hansen, delivering a textbook-style speech.

After Best Coach, there were some minor awards like Best Buzzer-Beater, Best Moment, etc.

It’s a pity this category exists only this year; if it was last season, Hansen’s "Wait a moment" three-pointer buzzer-beater would surely take it.

Following these minor awards came the main event: Best Defensive Player.

This was the award for which Hansen was nominated, with Leonard and Draymond Green as the other contenders.

The award presenter was Garnett.

The choice of presenters already hinted at something.

"The NBA’s Most Valuable Defensive Player for the 2016-2017 season is... Hansen."

When the result was announced, the venue erupted into cheers.

Hansen’s win meant he became the second player after Howard to achieve three consecutive Defensive Player of the Year titles.

Hansen was somewhat surprised by the result.

It shows the Cavaliers’ defensive efficiency improved greatly this season, and the league had no reason to use "aesthetic fatigue" to prevent Hansen from achieving this milestone.

When Hansen went on stage, the applause lasted for quite a while.

When it died down, Hansen gave his acceptance speech, and his opening line was disarmingly candid.

"I actually didn’t prepare an acceptance speech."

After an appropriate joke, he focused on thanking his teammates.

The Cavaliers’ defensive improvement this season was more due to lineup changes, and what he did was no different than in the past.

But from that perspective, if past Hansen was a Defensive Player of the Year, then this season’s Hansen should be too.

Beginning with Wade, then Malone, and now Hansen, the Cavaliers not only won the championship this season, but also amassed a plethora of awards. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭•𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚•𝕟𝕖𝕥

Sadly, Jokic lost to Antetokounmpo in the Most Improved Player award; it’s like Nintendo attending the TGA awards ceremony and just being an audience, gaining nothing.

When all other awards were handed out, the final and biggest award, MVP, was about to be revealed.

I must say, after all the buildup, this award ceremony still provided a pretty good overall experience.

The three MVP candidates: Hansen, Westbrook, Curry.

The award presenter is Silva, and it can only be Silva.

"The Most Valuable Player for the 2016-2017 Regular Season is... Hansen."

When the results were announced, the venue’s cheers erupted once again, with many people standing to applaud Hansen.

Two years ago, Hansen won his first Defensive Player of the Year but missed out on the championship; last season he won the championship, but the MVP was awarded to Curry.

But this season, at the end of this award ceremony, Hansen achieved an unprecedented accomplishment.

He became the first player in NBA history to win the Scoring King, Defensive Player of the Year, MVP, Finals MVP, and All-NBA First Team in one season!