Bill Russell presents Bill Russell Finals MVP award to Andre Iguodala
#AndreIguodala accepts the #NBAFinals #MVP from the legendary #BillRussell pic.twitter.com/AMjWcODBC1
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 17, 2015
— NBA TV (@NBATV) June 17, 2015
Bill Russell shares a moment with Steph & Dell Curry. #NBAFinals (via @warriors) pic.twitter.com/v8QDLoFtUB
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) June 17, 2015
David Blatt meets his childhood hero Bill Russell. Russell says "you're a good coach." Then adds "your luck ran out" pic.twitter.com/N4yVfn7y0y
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) June 17, 2015
The 81-year old Russell appeared to need help walking and may not be able to do this much longer, but he clearly relished the moment.
Iguodala was a very unlikely MVP, becoming the first player ever to take home the honors without starting every game--he never even started a single time all season until Game 4 of the Finals.
According to Bovada, Andre Iguodala's odds were 100-1 to win NBA Finals MVP when series began. pic.twitter.com/ZkZqQKq2NU
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 17, 2015
Here are the voting results for Finals MVP. Iggy with 7 votes; LeBron with 4. pic.twitter.com/XsgYAqsiAR
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) June 17, 2015
How deserving Iguodala was of the award is up for debate:
The third most valuable player in this series just won the MVP.
— Rob Dauster (@RobDauster) June 17, 2015
Take a look at each players' averages over the six games:
LeBron James: 45.8 minutes, 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds, 8.8 assists
Stephen Curry: 42.5 minutes, 26.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 6.3 assists
Andre Iguodala: 37.1 minutes, 16.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists
LeBron didn't win MVP because his team lost. Curry didn't win it because he was the regular season MVP who was clearly less valuable than LeBron. Iggy won it for being the surprise player who stepped up.
Follow Mark Vandeusen on Twitter @LucidSportsFan
