The 2019 NBA Awards Ceremony came to an end at the Barker Hangar in Los Angeles on Monday. Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks was Rookie of the Year; Pascal Siakam from the Toronto Raptors Most Improved Player; Lou Williams from the Los Angeles Clippers Sixth Man of the Year; Mike Budenholzer from the Milwaukee Bucks Coach of the Year; Rudy Gobert from the Utah Jazz Defensive Player of the Year; and most importantly, Giannis Antetokounmpo became the 2019 NBA Most Valuable Player.

Luka-mania is real because Doncic has magic

Can the first season be any better for Doncic? He played 72 games, dropped 21.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.1 steals on average, and pulled a few tricks including buzzer beaters and bringing comeback victories for the Mavericks. People stopped worrying about whether he can fit into the NBA, and began to discuss if the 20-year-old will be able to take over from Dirk Nowitzki as the greatest international player of the League. That's why Doncic beat Trae Young and Deandre Ayton to win the 2019 Rookie of the Year Award.

Siakam grows to a star player

Siakam won the 2019 NBA Championship with the Raptors as the team's No.2 scorer. He got 16.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. He could make 3-pointers when left open; he was the best fast break scorer of the Raptors; his size and almost-complete offensive skills always put the opponent's defense in mismatch. It's really hard to believe that only one year ago, Siakam was a second-year kid who could only get 7.3 points per game. That's why he beat De’Aaron Fox from the Sacramento Kings and D’Angelo Russell from the Brooklyn Nets to win the 2019 Most Improved Player Award.

Lou Williams, the most reliable guy you can find on the bench

This was already the third time Lou Williams received this award, matching the record of Jamal Crawford. If you take a look at Lou Williams' game, you will find how unique he is in today's NBA. He's only 1.85 meters tall and 79 kilograms; his career average assist number is only 3.3; his time on the court per game reached 30 minutes only once. Nonetheless, Lou Williams claimed 20 points on average last season and he did it by standing from the Clippers' bench. When team needed him to score, Lou Williams never hesitated to drop a 50+point game and that's why he beat his teammate Montrezl Harrell and Domantas Sabonis from the Indiana Pacers to win the 2019 Sixth Man of the Year Award.

Budenholzer makes Milwaukee different

Before Budenholzer arrived, the Bucks won only 44 games and ranked No.7 in the East. The team were talented but they had very limited options in offense and were lethally weak in rim and rebound protection. Budenholzer changed that by turning the Bucks into the most intimidating team in offense with their crazy performances from the 3-point line and in the paint. In defense, he put Brook Lopez and Antetokounmpo together, creating the best center-forward defensive combination in the league. In the end, Budenholzer helped the Bucks win most of the league's 60 games and that's why he beat Mike Malone from the Denver Nuggets and Doc Rivers from the Los Angeles Clippers to win his second Coach of the Year Award.

Always keep an eye for Gobert when he's on court

The Jazz are not good offense players. Nonetheless, they've made the playoffs in the past three seasons because they have Gobert as the team's pillar in defense. The French center knows how to take advantage of his 2.16-meter height and 2.36-meter wingspan. The 2.3 blocks and 12.9 rebounds per game in the regular season only show a tiny bit of how great Gobert's defense was. His choice of position and timing for help defense was already top of the league. Whenever Gobert's on the court, the opponent always hesitated before they drove towards Jazz's basket. That's why he beat Paul George from the Oklahoma City Thunder and Giannis Antetokounmpo from the Milwaukee Bucks to win the 2019 Defensive Players of the Year Award.

The future belongs to Antetokounmpo

Before the 2018-19 NBA season had started, multiple players received challenges by future Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant. Antetokounmpo was told by Kobe to go for MVP. And he did. The No.15 pick from the 2013 Draft, who only began to play basketball at 11, spent six seasons making himself the best player of the league. 27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.5 blocks — these were the numbers put down by Antetokounmpo last season to make the biggest contributions to the Bucks on both sides of the court. That's why he beat James Harden from the Houston Rockets and Paul George from the Oklahoma City Thunder to win the 2019 MVP Award.

Other award recipients include Bradley Beal from the Washington Wizards, NBA Cares Community Assist Award; Mike Conley from the Memphis Grizzlies, Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award; Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, Lifetime Achievement Award; Robin Roberts, Sager Strong Award; Marcus Smart from the Boston Celtics, NBA Hustle Award; Jon Horst from the Milwaukee Bucks, NBA Basketball Executive of the Year; Derrick Rose from the Minnesota Timberwolves, House of Highlights Moment of the Year.