NBA announces 2021-22 season award finalists

The NBA has announced the season award finalists for the 2021-22 campaign, which includes Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Coach of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved Player. Each award features three finalists.

For MVP, Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, Sixers center Joel Embiid and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic finish in the top three. Rookie of the Year features Toronto’s Scottie Barnes, Detroit’s Cade Cunningham and Cleveland’s Evan Mobley, while Sixth Man of the Year will come down to Heat guard Tyler Herro, Suns forward Cameron Johnson and Cavaliers big man Kevin Love.

The three Coach of the Year finalists are Memphis’ Taylor Jenkins, Miami’s Erik Spoelstra and Phoenix’s Monty Williams, all of whom guided their teams to top-three records this season. Defensive Player of the Year features Suns wing Mikal Bridges, Jazz center Rudy Gobert and Celtics guard Marcus Smart. Gobert has won the award three times.

Finally, the Most Improved Player finalists are Cleveland’s Darius Garland, Memphis’ Ja Morant and San Antonio’s Dejounte Murray. The awards were voted on by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Winners will be announced during TNT’s coverage of the NBA Playoffs, the league said.