Draymond Green named NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year

The Warriors’ emotional leader, Draymond Green, was named the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year on Monday at the league’s first Awards show in New York.

Green’s win ended a two-year reign by the San Antonio Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard as the award’s winner and made Green the first member of the Warriors to win it since the first award was presented in 1983 to the Milwaukee Bucks’ Sidney Moncrief.

Green was rewarded for his do-everything role with the NBA champions. He led the league in steals and on Feb. 10 had the league’s first triple-double that didn’t include any points, finishing with 11 rebounds, 10 steals and 10 assists.

The other finalists for the defensive award were Leonard, who was trying to be the first to win three in a row since Dwight Howard, and Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert.

Earlier Monday, Green was the leading vote-getter for the NBA All-Defensive team with 99 of a possible 100 first-team votes. He was joined by Leonard, Gobert, Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers and Patrick Beverly of the Houston Rockets.

The awards show capped its ceremony by announcing Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook as the Most Valuable Player for 2016-17. He best out James Harden of the Rockets and Leonard.

The show also included stirring tributes to Monty Williams, Craig Sager and Bill Russell.

Westbrook joined Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson as the only players to average a triple-double for the entire season, and he led the Thunder to the playoffs despite the team’s loss of Kevin Durant to the Warriors.

Westbrook’s award ended a two-year streak of MVP trophies won by the Warriors’ Stephen Curry.

The Bucks and Rockets were double winners Monday.

Before Houston’s Mike D’Antoni won his second Coach of the Year award, the league’s Sixth Man Award was given to Rockets guard Eric Gordon.

The Bucks ended the night with Most Improved Player award going to guard Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Rookie of the Year to Malcolm Brogdon.

Brogdon became the first player not picked in the first round to win NBA Rookie of the Year in the common draft era.

Brogdon was the No. 36 overall selection out of Virginia. The common draft era began in 1966.

“I think it’s an example for guys that are told they are too short, they are not athletic enough, they are not real point guards, they are not real shooting guards,” Brogdon said. “I just think it’s an important message for people to see, and it can be done. It just takes a lot.”

Russell received the first Lifetime Achievement award, responding with some trash talk and then praise for the big men who honored him.

Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, David Robinson, Shaquille O’Neal, Alonzo Mourning and Dikembe Mutombo were on stage to present the honor to Russell, who won 11 championships as a player with the Boston Celtics and went on to become the NBA’s first black head coach.

Russell pointed at them and said he would kick all their butts. After a long laugh from the crowd, Russell told the other centers that “you have no idea how much respect I have for you guys.”

The NBA formerly gave out its individual awards at various points throughout the postseason before switching to the awards show this season and presenting them all at once in front of the league’s top players and stars from the entertainment world.