SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — Houston Rockets’ guard James Harden has won his first NBA Most Valuable Player of the Year award on Monday.
He joined Michael Jordan as the only players to average at least 20 points, eight assists, five rebounds and 1.7 steals in a season.
Harden led the league in scoring, 3-pointers and 50-point games with four. He helped the Rockets to an NBA-leading 65 wins.
Harden beat out Cleveland’s LeBron James and Anthony Davis of the Pelicans.
Dwane Casey won the NBA’s Coach of the Year award for his work with his former team, the Toronto Raptors. He was fired last month and has since become coach of the Detroit Pistons.
Casey led the Raptors to the No. 1 seed in the East for the first time in franchise history. Toronto won a team-record 59 games.
Casey won over Quin Snyder of Utah and Brad Stevens of Boston.
Lou Williams of the Los Angeles Clippers is the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year.
The guard became the first player to average at least 20 points for the first time in his 13th season or later. He led the league in fourth-quarter points and scoring average.
Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz is the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year.
The center was the leading vote-getter for the league’s All-Defensive first team.
He beat out Anthony Davis of New Orleans and Joel Embiid of Philadelphia.
Victor Oladipo of the Indiana Pacers won the Most Improved Player at the NBA Awards.
The guard averaged 23.1 points in his first season with the Pacers.
Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers won Rookie of the Year honors at the NBA Awards.
The guard averaged 15 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, joining Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson as the only rookies to post those numbers in a season.
He beat out finalists Donovan Mitchell of Utah and Jayson Tatum of Boston.

Winners of the 2017-18 NBA awards, presented Monday in Los Angeles
Most Valuable Player — James Harden, Houston
Coach of the Year — Dwane Casey, Toronto
Rookie of the Year — Ben Simmons, Philadelphia
Most Improved Player — Victor Oladipo, Indiana
Basketball Executive of the Year — Daryl Morey, Houston
Defensive Player of the Year — Rudy Gobert, Utah
Sixth Man Award — Lou Williams, L.A. Clippers
Sportsmanship Award — Kemba Walker, Charlotte
Hustle Award — Amir Johnson, Philadelphia
Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year — Jamal Crawford, Minnesota
Lifetime Achievement Award — Oscar Robertson
Sager Strong Award — Dikembe Mutombo
All-NBA First Team — Anthony Davis, New Orleans; Kevin Durant, Golden State; James Harden, Housron; LeBron James, Cleveland; Damian Lillard, Portland.
All-Rookie Team — Kyle Kuzma, L.A. Lakers; Lauri Markkanen, Chicago; Donovan Mitchell, Utah; Ben Simmons, Philadelphia; Jayson Tatum, Boston.
All-Defensive Team — Rudy Gobert, Utah; Anthony Davis, New Orleans; Victor Oladipo, Indiana; Jrue Holiday, New Orleans; Robert Covington, Philadelphia.
NBA Cares Community Assist Award — Kevin Durant, Golden State
Fan-voted Awards
Play of the Year — Clutch Shot of the Year, Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James.
Best Style — Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City
Dunk of the Year — Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee
Clutch Shot of the Year — LeBron James, Cleveland
Assist of the Year — LeBron James, Cleveland
Block of the Year — Anthony Davis, New Orleans
Handle of the Year — Kyrie Irving, Boston