The National Basketball Association has six awards lined up to honor specific individuals who have stood out in terms of their production on the court. Whether defensively, offensively or coaching wise, certain individuals statistically provide a case to win an award after a hard-fought 82-game season.
According to Dan Feldman of NBC Sports, the NBA granted a press release announcing a venue for the various recipients of the league awards:
The NBA announced today that the first-ever NBA Awards Show will take place in New York City on Monday, June 26, 2017. Televised exclusively by TNT, the show will feature current and former NBA players, coaches and celebrities.
The show is slated for after the NBA Finals, which will conclude on June 18 if there is a Game 7. It is also going to be after the draft, which is scheduled for June 22.
The league has taken another stab at attempting to honor their award recipients from the NBA season. In an agreement to be exclusively aired on NBA on TNT, the league will announce the winners of the various awards.
The National Basketball Players Association attempted to do something in a similar fashion a few seasons ago, but to no avail. The lackluster ratings turned into a massive flop, which was why the league resulted to using social media these past two seasons to announce the various winners.
With various former players, coaches and celebrities in attendance, the media draw, and coverage will certainly be something to watch.
While the exclusive broadcast rights with NBA on TNT certainly came with added benefits for commissioner Adam Silver and the league, there could also be a large downside to this feature. During this event, there will be six awards announced:
Most Valuable Player
Defensive Player of the Year
Rookie of the Year
Sixth Man Award
Most Improved Player
Coach of the Year
In past seasons, the segmented announcements allowed for discussion across their many venues, including ESPN and NBA TV. Certain awards would be disputed on the scheduled days, with debates stating why that player deserved to win and if there could have been someone more fitting of the honor.
While the NBA on TNT crew will certainly make a spectacle of the event, it will now be compressed into a single event.
During the 2015-16 season, Stephen Curry took home the MVP, Kawhi Leonard won his second consecutive Defensive Player of the Year Award, and Karl-Anthony Towns won the Rookie of the Year Award.
Jamal Crawford was awarded the Sixth Man Award, while C.J. McCollum won the Most Improved Player Award and Steve Kerr won the 2016 Coach of the Year Award.