A mere two months after his season ended, Russell Westbrook has been awarded his first NBA MVP award.
Westbrook beat out fellow nominees James Harden and Kawhi Leonard for the top honors in 2016-17, in which he averaged a triple double, and set a new record for most triple doubles in a season.
In a change of pace from past seasons, the NBA held a formal awards show to announce all of its achievement awards, rather than sprinkling them throughout the playoffs.
Other big winners from the night were Draymond Green for Defensive Player of the Year, Mike D’Antoni for Coach of the Year, Giannis Antetokounmpo for Most Improved Player, and Malcolm Brogdon for Rookie of the Year.
In honor of Westbrook’s achievement, Jordan Brand has unveiled a special edition of the Air Jordan 31 sold through the SNKRS app. The shoes feature OKC colors with sketched graphics of Westbrook along with his “Why Not” catchphrase on the medial heel panels. And true to the pairs he wore throughout the season, this 31 features the Air Jordan 30 tooling.
In winning the award, Westbrook becomes the only member of the Team Jordan roster to win NBA MVP other than Michael Jordan himself.
Although the sneakers sold out immediately on the app, “Why Not 0?” tees are available for pre-order on jordan.com.
UPDATE 6/27: Foot Locker has just announced that a limited number of pairs of the shoe are available right now at their Penn Square Mall location in Oklahoma City, OK and Westfield Culver City in Culver City, CA.
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Every Air Jordan Russell Westbrook Wore for Triple-Doubles This Season
Looking back at every Air Jordan 31 worn by Russell Westbrook during his 42 triple-doubles this season.
