Stephen Curry finished 262 voting points and 75 first-place votes ahead of Harden to win the traditional MVP award, as voted on by select media members, for the 2014-15 season.

But Harden, who finished ahead of Curry this past regular season in points and rebounds per game but behind him in advanced statistics such as player efficiency rating (PER) and ESPN's Real Plus-Minus, was the players' choice, emerging from backstage at the Penn & Teller Theater at the Rio Las Vegas to accept the trophy after not sitting in the audience for the other award announcements.

Among those whom Harden thanked during his acceptance speech was the players' union, for "giving players a voice to speak their minds."

Curry was named by players as this year's "Clutch Performer" and "Hardest to Guard." He and Golden State Warriors teammates Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli also accepted the award for the best home-court advantage, which went to the reigning champions' Oracle Arena.

LeBron James, who finished third in traditional MVP voting, won the award for "Player you secretly wish was on your team."

James, who was elected in February as the NBPA's first vice president, and DeAndre Jordan were among the notable players who didn't attend Sunday's taping.
James Harden beat out official MVP Stephen Curry and LeBron James to win the first-ever NBPA Players' choice award as the league's best player. Bill Baptist/NBAE/Getty Images

Players also named San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich -- and not 2015 coach of the year winner Mike Budenholzer of the Atlanta Hawks -- as the "Coach you most want to play for" and Jordan as "Best Defender." Defensive player of the year Kawhi Leonard and runner-up Draymond Green didn't finish among the four leading vote-getters.

Chris Paul won the Oscar Robertson Visionary Award for his on- and off-court achievements, and Ray Allen was named "Man of the Year" for his, receiving a video tribute from President Barack Obama that left Allen visibly emotional.

Allen Iverson also was given the "Gamechanger" award for his contributions to the sport. In his acceptance speech, Iverson, the league MVP in the 2001, echoed most other winners by noting the importance of the distinction coming from his peers.

"This is one of the most special awards I've ever received because it comes from y'all," Iverson said, referencing the players in attendance.

Five months earlier, at All-Star Weekend, Kevin Durant, issued a rallying cry for players' right to vote on their awards.
Stephen Curry vs. James Harden

James Harden was the players' choice for MVP, but Stephen Curry beat him out for the official award as voted on by the media. Here's how the two ranked in the NBA in various statistics last season.
Curry Harden
Real Plus-Minus 1st 3rd
Win Shares 3rd 1st
PER 3rd 5th
PPG 6th 2nd
Team win % 1st T-3rd
ESPN Stats & Information

"Yeah, I think media and guys get too much power to vote on stuff that, quite frankly, I don't think you really know a lot about [or] as much as we know about it," Durant said. "So, yeah, we play against these guys every single night. We battle against these guys. We know what they say on the court. We know how they handle their teammates. We know how they approach the game. And our vote should count. Our opinions should count. Like I said, I don't think you guys know as much as we do, and I don't see why you have more power than we do."

"You guys really don't know s---," Durant told reporters.

Those in attendance at Sunday's event weren't as pointed, but they agreed that players should have a say in the process.

"When you really think about it, who really knows us players better than our players," said Chris Paul, the president of the NBA players' union. "Not to take away anything from [media members], who get the opportunity to vote on all the different awards, but I think we sort of know each other -- we know who are the guys, who guys like, stuff like that. This is the first year, and I think next year we'll have an opportunity to make it even better."

Since 1981, the NBA's official annual awards have been voted on by a panel of media members selected by the league.

"All I know is that the [players] have a sense of who they respect and whose game they respect, in a way that the media can't possibly know, because the media hasn't played with these guys," said Michele Roberts, the executive director of the NBPA. "So it's an interesting, different perspective. I don't want to say that one's better than the other. It's up to you. But it's interesting to me to hear what the players have to say about their brothers."

Said Paul Pierce: "I think that this is awesome. Players are moving in a whole other direction, showing what we can do when we put our minds to it. You see all these other award shows -- the ESPYs, the BET awards. Players thought about it and said, 'Why not us have one.' We have our choices for All-Stars, we have our choice for MVP, but we don't get our chance to voice that. And I think here at the Players' Awards we get our chance to voice our opinion of who was the best team or best crowd or best player, and I think it's great."

Tweet was deleted or there was problem with the URL:

https://twitter.com/FisolaNYDN/status/623664488194052096

i like it...if the players want to have an award show, go for it. they think theyre the better judge than writers who have never played on their level.

MaTT4281 wrote:Geez, does everybody get an award now?

Players want their say on MVP...fine.
"Clutch performer"...um, alright.
"Gamechanger"...not sure how that's really different from the others.
"PLAYER YOU SECRETLY WISH WAS ON YOUR TEAM"...really now?

This is a list of high school superlatives. Who's going to win next year's "Most likely to go home again" award?

2015 NBPA Award Winners Award 	Winner
Most Valuable Player 	                      James Harden, SG, Houston Rockets
Best Defender 	                              DeAndre Jordan, C, Los Angeles Clippers
Man of the Year 	                      Ray Allen
Hardest to Guard 	                      Stephen Curry, PG, Golden State Warriors
Clutch Performer 	                      Stephen Curry, PG, Golden State Warriors
Coach You Most Want to Play For               Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs
Game-Changer Honor 	                      Allen Iverson
Oscar Robertson Visionary Award               Chris Paul, PG, Los Angeles Clippers
Best Homecourt Advantage Oracle Arena         (Golden State Warriors)
Player You Secretly Wish Was on Your Team     LeBron James, SF, Cleveland Cavalier

mreinman wrote:succk that they gave this to a flopper.

That can't go right..

mreinman wrote:this guy came in second in the regular voting. Lets not make believe that they voted for rudy gay

Seems to be something you feel very strongly about.

WaltLongmire wrote:

mreinman wrote:this guy came in second in the regular voting. Lets not make believe that they voted for rudy gay

Seems to be something you feel very strongly about.

you are quite perceptive very impressive

TPercy wrote:Durant has a good point.

+1, it bears highlighting:

"Yeah, I think media and guys get too much power to vote on stuff that, quite frankly, I don't think you really know a lot about [or] as much as we know about it," Durant said. "So, yeah, we play against these guys every single night. We battle against these guys. We know what they say on the court. We know how they handle their teammates. We know how they approach the game. And our vote should count. Our opinions should count. Like I said, I don't think you guys know as much as we do, and I don't see why you have more power than we do."
"You guys really don't know s---," Durant told reporters.

Good for him.

I play ball every Saturday this summer with one of the NBA refs. (No, not one of the women) He said Harden is worse on defense then the video clips actually show. And he has to watch more video as part of his job than most coaching staffs.

I wonder if the players would care (or respect) awards that were voted on by the refs. Or maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea, given recent history.. selling votes...