The NBA and Turner Sports jointly announced on Tuesday Grammy award-winning rapper Drake will host the inaugural season awards show. The show will air on TNT on June 26, and the league will announce the award winners and runners-up for its six major awards: Most Valuable Player, Coach of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player.
Drake will host the NBA’s 1st season awards show
The Grammy award-winning artist hosted the ESPYs in 2014.
Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images
(SB Nation’s own Paul Flannery had votes this season and publicly defended his selections here. Meanwhile, The Dream Shake is tracking official 2017 MVP votes here.)
Drake has hosted a sports awards event in the past. The platinum-selling rapper hosted the 2014 ESPYs and was rated a success by both MTV and CNN, though he did have an awkward on-stage moment referencing then-prospect and current Trail Blazers guard Shabazz Napier.
In past years, the league has made its award announcements as a release on its website. The league’s decision to have a televised awards show comes follows two years of the National Basketball Players Association’s own awards show that began in 2015.
League Award Frontrunners:
Rookie of the Year: Malcolm Brogdon, Dario Saric, Joel Embiid
Defensive Player: Draymond Green, Rudy Gobert, Kawhi Leonard
Sixth Man: Eric Gordon, Andre Iguodala, Greg Monroe,
Most Improved Player: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Rudy Gobert, Bradley Beal
Coach of the Year: Mike D’Antoni, Scott Brooks, Erik Spoelstra
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