Late in the 2014-2015 NBA season, the MVP race was a five-man competition. Any NBA enthusiast could have made a legitimate case for Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, James Harden, Lebron James, and Russell Westbrook.

Curry eventually went home with the award last May. As stated in the league's official press release, the Golden State Warriors player got "1,198 points, including 100 of 130 first-place votes, from a panel of 129 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada, as well as the Kia MVP fan vote on NBA.com." Members of the media went with Curry's floor generalship, which spearheaded the Warriors' stellar regular season over Harden's league leading stats.

During NBPA's first ever award show, NBA players gave out their version of the league MVP as well as other new awards. The event happened on Sunday but was televised on Tuesday.

Harden, this time, bested Curry for the MVP award. The Rockets guard led the league in total points and minutes played plus free throws made and attempted.

Both players were deserving candidates for both the league and the player union's  MVP. It was a tight race this season with winners being crowned mostly by preference and not value. Players choose to base their judgment on high-usage performance like that of Harden's more than media members did, Yahoo Sports reported.

In a statement via ESPN, president of the NBA players' union Chris Paul had this to say:

"When you really think about it, who really knows us players better than our players... 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."

Echoing on Paul's sentiments, NBPA's executive director Michele Roberts said, "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."

Here are the rest of the winners:

  • LeBron James for Player You Secretly Wish Was On Your Team (won over Curry, Davis and Tim Duncan)
  • Gregg Popovich for Coach You Want To Play For (won over Mike Budenholzer, Rick Carlisle and Steve Kerr)
  • Golden State for Best Home Court Advantage (won over Oklahoma City, Portland and San Antonio)
  • Steph Curry for Hardest to Guard (won over Harden, James and Westbrook)
  • Pau Gasol Global Impact Player (won over Kyrie Irving, Dirk Nowitzki and Tony Parker)
  • Steph Curry Clutch Performer (won over Harden, James and Westbrook)
  • DeAndre Jordan Best Defender (won over Tony Allen, Jimmy Butler and Davis)
  • Andrew Wiggins for Best Rookie (won over Zach LaVine, Nikola Mirotic and Elfrid Payton)