NEW YORK – The NBA today announced the finalists for six awards that honor top performers for the 2021-22 regular season: NBA Coach of the Year, Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Kia NBA Most Improved Player, Kia NBA Most Valuable Player, Kia NBA Rookie of the Year and Kia NBA Sixth Man of the Year.

The three finalists for each annual award, based on voting results from a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters, are listed in alphabetical order below:

NBA Coach of the Year
Taylor Jenkins, Memphis Grizzlies

Erik Spoelstra, Miami Heat

Monty Williams, Phoenix Suns

Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year
Mikal Bridges, Phoenix Suns

Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz

Marcus Smart, Boston Celtics

Kia NBA Most Improved Player
Darius Garland, Cleveland Cavaliers

Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies

Dejounte Murray, San Antonio Spurs

Kia NBA Most Valuable Player
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks

Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers

Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets

Kia NBA Rookie of the Year
Scottie Barnes, Toronto Raptors

Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons

Evan Mobley, Cleveland Cavaliers

Kia NBA Sixth Man of the Year
Tyler Herro, Miami Heat

Cam Johnson, Phoenix Suns

Kevin Love, Cleveland Cavaliers

TNT will announce the winner of each award during its coverage of the 2022 NBA Playoffs presented by Google Pixel.  Each voter’s complete ballot for each award will be posted at PR.NBA.com after the announcement of all end-of-season awards.

• Πηγή: nba.com