Awards votes were due by the end of the regular season from the various media members who make up the league’s voting pool, and as such, the league can hand out hardware to players throughout the postseason for their work during the 82-game year.
Prior to Friday’s Play-In action, the league had TNT announce the three finalists for each award, narrowing the field down to the three highest vote-getters to further continue the debate over who should win — even though, again, voting is over — and also to let fans, players, and teams know who is still in the running. There weren’t any real surprises on the finalists list, particularly MVP which features the three frontrunners who have been discussed all year. Most people will find their favorites for each award among the finalists, but the debate over who is most deserving of each award among those three is varied. Some have heavy favorites — like Lauri Markkanen for Most Improved, Paolo Banchero for Rookie of the Year, and De’Aaron Fox for Most Clutch — while others like MVP and DPOY will be far more contested among the public.
Here are the finalists for the 2023 NBA Awards:
Most Valuable Player
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Joel Embiid
Nikola Jokic
Defensive Player of the Year
Jaren Jackson Jr.
Brook Lopez
Evan Mobley
Rookie of the Year
Paolo Banchero
Walker Kessler
Jalen Williams
Sixth Man of the Year
Malcolm Brogdon
Bobby Portis
Immanuel Quickley
Coach of the Year
Mike Brown
Mark Daigneault
Joe Mazzulla
Most Improved Player
Jalen Brunson
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Lauri Markkanen
Clutch Player of the Year
Jimmy Butler
DeMar DeRozan
De’Aaron Fox