Four players received first-place votes in NBA MVP voting

Russell Westbook was named the NBA's Most Valuable Player for the 2016-17 season, winning the award during the league's first-ever awards show on Monday night.

This year's MVP award had stirred quite a bit of debate as Westbrook averaging a triple-double for the season was weighed against James Harden's near-triple-double numbers and the Houston Rockets' better season, Kawhi Leonard's status as the best two-way player in the league, and LeBron James' status as the best player on the planet.

But in the end, the voting was not terribly close as Westbrook outpaced Harden by 135 points.

Samantha Lee/Business Insider

If we take a closer look at how the voting broke down, all four of the top candidates received first-place votes. However, 69 of the 101 voters named Westbrook as the top player on their ballots.

Westbrook, Harden, and Leonard were the only players named on every ballot and 11 different players received at least one fifth-place vote.

Samantha Lee/Business Insider

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