We’re one step closer to finding out the award recipients for the 2021-22 NBA regular season.
The NBA on Sunday revealed the full list of finalists – three for each category – for the six major regular-season awards: Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player and Coach of the Year.
For MVP, the three candidates are Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid and Milwaukee Bucks big man Giannis Antetokounmpo. Jokic won the MVP award last season while Antetokounmpo took home the prize in back-to-back years in 2018-19 and 2019-20.
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The ROY finalists are Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes, Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham and Cleveland Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley. All three players were top-four draft picks, with Cunningham going No. 1 overall.
Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro, Phoenix Suns forward Cameron Johnson and Cavaliers big man Kevin Love are all up for 6MOY. None of the nominees have won the award before.
The DPOY finalists are Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert, Suns forward Mikal Bridges and Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart. Gobert has dominated this category recently, having won the award in three of the last four years, including last year.
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For MIP, the finalists are Cavaliers guard Darius Garland, Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant and San Antonio Spurs guard Dejounte Murray.
Finally, COY will be decided between the Grizzlies’ Taylor Jenkins, the Heat’s Erik Spoelstra and the Suns’ Monty Williams. This would be a first-time win for any of the three finalists.
The winners will be announced on TNT during its coverage of the 2022 NBA playoffs.
