MVP Award Ceremony

"Ladies and gentlemen! This is the NBA Playoffs, Los Angeles Lakers vs. Suns, GAME 1!"

"At the same time, this is also the MVP award ceremony."

The NBA was constantly undergoing reform.

Originally, the regular-season MVP and the various other awards were not fully announced until nearly the start of the second round of the playoffs.

By Adam Silver's era, they were even announced only after the entire playoffs had ended. It was utterly ridiculous, lowering the prestige of the MVP and regular-season honors by countless levels!

After all, once the championship had been decided and the FMVP announced, who would care who the regular-season MVP was?

That MVP was practically the least impactful MVP in history!

Regular-season honors and awards should have been announced after the regular season ended and before the playoffs began!

This was not difficult to do. The voters and staff simply needed to work more efficiently.

This year, Stern tried this approach. For the first time in history, an award like the regular-season MVP was presented in the very first game of the playoffs.

"Congratulations, kid. It's you again this year," Stern said with a smile as he handed the trophy to Kobe.

"Commissioner, I'm afraid you'll see me again on the Finals award stage before long. Don't get sick of it when the time comes," Kobe said cheerfully, accepting the trophy with a faint smile.

Back-to-back MVPs, achieved!

Back-to-back scoring titles, achieved!

Back-to-back All-NBA First Team and All-Defensive First Team selections, achieved!

MVP—Most Valuable Player. There could only be one such award winner each season.

It was the greatest honor bestowed for a long regular season. Every player who won it had achieved the very best in the league that year!

The NBA! The greatest basketball league in the world!

NBA MVP! The greatest