2017 NBA Awards show: Eric Gordon wins NBA Sixth Man of the Year

Houston Rockets shooting guard Eric Gordon wins NBA Sixth Man of the Year for the 2016-17 NBA season at the 2017 NBA Awards show on TNT.

The 2017 NBA Awards show on TNT is well underway. After seeing Milwaukee Bucks point guard Malcolm Brogdon take home NBA Rookie of the Year, Houston Rockets shooting guard Eric Gordon took home the second major award of the evening, winning Kia Sixth Man of the Year.

This was his first major award, having previously been All-Rookie in 2008-09. After five somewhat frustrating years with the New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans, Gordon left the Big Easy in 2016 NBA free agency to embrace a new role with the rival Rockets.

Gordon had been a starter in his first eight years in the league with the Los Angeles Clippers and New Orleans. However, he was not going to start at the two because of some guy named James Harden playing shooting guard at a very high level for Houston.

Gordon had his health in year nine in the NBA, playing in 75 regular season games for the 2016-17 Rockets. He only started in 15 of them, making him eligible for Sixth Man of the Year. He beat out Golden State Warriors swingman Andre Iguodala and Rockets teammate Lou Williams.

Gordon averaged 16.2 points per game in 31.0 minutes per contest. He shot 40.6 percent from the field, 37.2 percent from distance and 84.0 percent at the charity stripe. Embracing a new role in an up-tempo offensive system was exactly what Gordon needed to recharge his NBA career.

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Houston won its first playoff series over the Oklahoma City Thunder before falling to the rival San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals. Without a great first season with the Rockets from Gordon, Houston would not have had the year it had. Look for Gordon to do more good things coming off the Rockets bench next fall.