With the NBA Finals slowly coming to an end, we'll soon be discovering the winners of this season's major awards.But while we wait for the second annual NBA Awards show on June 25 to find out the winners, the National Basketball Players' Association is already giving out its own honours for the fourth season running.Of the winners so far, we've already seen Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert voted as the best defender by his fellow peers as he scooped the "Locksmith" award.Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard was regarded as the best clutch performer as he picked up the "Mr. Clutch" award.The NBPA has slowly been building up to its biggest prize and it comes as no surprise who was selected as this year's Most Valuable Player.Houston Rockets superstar James Harden was voted as the MVP by his fellow NBA players after his terrific regular season.
The All-Star averaged a league-leading 30.4 points, 8.8 assists and 5.4 rebounds while helping to lead the Rockets to an NBA-best 65-17 record this campaign.
Houston also made it to the Western Conference Finals where they were beaten in seven games by the Golden State Warriors.
Harden was voted MVP by his peers during the NBPA's inaugural awards in 2015 too. Last year, Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook won the players' MVP award as well as the league version.
His time has come
The Rockets shooting guard is the favourite to finally win his first league MVP award later this month after finishing as runner-up on multiple occasions.
The 28-year-old had a year to remember and produced a number of historic games. His highlight performance came against the Orlando Magic in January when he became the first player in NBA history to notch a 60-point triple-double, along with 10 rebounds and 11 assists.
This season's scoring champion was also recently selected to the All-NBA First Team for the fourth time in his career.
As well as Harden, LeBron James received an honour of his own by the NBPA as he was named as the first-ever "People's Champ".
Both "The Beard" and James were announced as finalists for the league MVP award alongside Anthony Davis.
It would be a major surprise if the former OKC man doesn't claim the prestigious Maurice Podoloff trophy as he was clearly the best player in the 82-game campaign.
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