who won the nba mvp of the regular season
NBA Most Valuable Player Award The National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player (MVP) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1955–56 season to the best performing player of the regular season. The winner receives the Maurice Podoloff Trophy, which is named in honor of the first commissioner (then president)[a] of the NBA, who served from 1946 until 1963. Until the 1979–80 season, the MVP was selected by a vote of NBA players. Since the 1980–81 season, the award is decided by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada, each of whom casts a vote for first to fifth place selections. Each first-place vote is worth 10 points; each second-place vote is worth seven; each third-place vote is worth five, fourth-place is worth three and fifth-place is worth one. Starting from 2010, one ballot was cast by fans through online voting. The player with the highest point total wins the award.[2] As of June 2017[update], the current holder of the award is Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
LeBron James After the Cavaliers traded All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving in the off-season, Cleveland started the 2017–18 season with a 3–5 record. The next game, the Cavaliers defeated the Washington Wizards 130–122. James scored 57 points in the game to set the second-highest point total of his career, making 23 of 34 field-goal tries and all nine free throws, adding 11 rebounds and seven assists. James reached at least 10 points for the 800th game in a row, joining Michael Jordan (866) as the only other NBA player with a streak that long. James also became the youngest player to reach 29,000 career points in the NBA.[198] On November 28, 2017, James was ejected for the first time in his career during the third quarter of the Cavaliers' 108–97 win over the Miami Heat. James was in the midst of his 1,082nd career regular season game, and 1,299th overall.[199] On December 16, 2017, he had his 60th career triple-double in a 109–100 win over the Utah Jazz. James had his fifth triple-double of the season and passed Larry Bird for sixth on the career list.[200] On January 23, 2018, in a 114–102 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, James became the seventh player in NBA history to reach 30,000 career points. At 33 years and 24 days, James became the youngest player to score 30,000—Kobe Bryant was 34 years and 104 days when he got there.[201] On February 27, 2018, he scored 31 points and finished a month averaging a triple-double for the first time in his career, as the Cavaliers defeated the Brooklyn Nets 129–123. James also had 12 rebounds and 11 assists for his 12th triple-double of the season and 67th of his career. He reached 8,000 assists during the game to become the first player in NBA history to reach 30,000 points, 8,000 rebounds and 8,000 assists.[202] On March 30, 2018, in a 107–102 win over the Pelicans, James scored in double digits in his 867th straight game, breaking Michael Jordan's long-standing record.[203] During the 2018 NBA Playoffs, James was named to the All-NBA First Team for the 12th straight year, marking a new NBA record. With the Cavaliers defeating the Boston Celtics 87–79 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, James reached the NBA Finals for the eighth straight year, which no player had done since members of the early Celtics dynasty did so in the 1960s.[204] In Game 1 of the NBA Finals, James scored 51 points to go with eight assists and eight rebounds in a 124–114 overtime loss. James became only the sixth player to ever score at least 50 points in a NBA Finals game. This also notched his eighth game of at least 40 points in the 2018 playoffs and tied Jerry West's feat in 1965 for most in a single postseason.[205] The Cavaliers went on to lose to the Warriors in four games, with James averaged 34 points (his second-highest total), 8.5 rebounds and 10 assists in the series despite playing with a self-inflicted hand injury that he sustained after Game 1. James scored 748 points in the playoffs, the second most in a postseason behind Jordan, who scored 759 in 1992.[206] On June 29, 2018, James announced that he opted out of his contract with the Cavaliers to become a free agent.[207]
Kobe Bryant In 2003, Bryant was accused of sexual assault in Colorado, but the charges were eventually dropped, and a civil suit was settled out of court. After the Lakers lost the 2004 NBA Finals, O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat. Bryant became the cornerstone of the Lakers, and he led the NBA in scoring during the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons. In 2006, he scored a career-high 81 points against the Toronto Raptors, the second most points scored in a single game in league history behind Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in 1962. Bryant was awarded the regular season's Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) in 2008. After losing in the 2008 NBA Finals, he led the Lakers to two consecutive championships in 2009 and 2010, earning the Finals MVP Award on both occasions. He continued to be among the top players in the league through 2013 when the 34-year-old Bryant suffered a torn Achilles tendon. Although he recovered, his play was limited the following two years by season-ending injuries to his knee and shoulder, respectively. Citing his physical decline, he announced that he would retire after the 2015–16 season.
National Basketball Association The final playoff round, a best-of-seven series between the victors of both conferences, is known as the NBA Finals, and is held annually in June. The victor in the NBA Finals wins the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy. Each player and major contributor—including coaches and the general manager—on the winning team receive a championship ring. In addition, the league awards the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award to the best performing player of the series.