A tearful Giannis Antetokounmpo earned Most Valuable Player honors, Mike Budenholzer won Coach of the Year, and Jon Horst took Executive of the Year on Monday in Santa Monica.
Antetokounmpo, a 24-year-old forward from Greece, beat Paul George of the Oklahoma City Thunder and James Harden of the Houston Rockets, who won last year.
Antetokounmpo was a resounding winner. He received 941 points and 78 first-place votes in the balloting - 165 points more than Harden.
Harden finished second with 776 points and 23 first-place votes.
'MVP is not about stats and numbers, and obviously James Harden had unbelievable numbers and Paul George also, but obviously it's about winning,' Antetokounmpo said backstage. 'We created great habits throughout the season and were able to stick by them, and that's why we were able to have a chance in every single game we played and were able to win 60 games.'
Tears rolled down his cheeks as Antetokounmpo thanked his mother Veronica and brothers in the audience at Barker Hanger. He credited his late father for pushing him toward his goals and his team-mates and coaching staff for their help.
'We started from nothing as a family,' he said, 'and we are going to be in every stage that we can be as a family.'
Antetokounmpo said backstage that he had vowed to his family he wasn't going to cry.
'When you hear your name up there on the stage and then you realize these years of hard work, what you did in the past, then you start getting emotional,' he said.
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