Eric Gordon Wins 2017 NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award

Houston Rockets swingman Eric Gordon took home 2016-17 Sixth Man of the Year honors Monday night at the NBA's first-ever awards show, beating out finalists Lou Williams and Andre Iguodala. 

The NBA on TNT Twitter account shared video of Gordon's acceptance speech: 

Gordon inked a four-year, $52.8 million deal with the Rockets last summer, and it didn't take long for him to flourish in Mike D'Antoni's space-oriented offense. 

Over the course of 75 total appearances, Gordon averaged 16.2 points on 40.6 percent shooting from the field and 37.2 percent shooting from three—including 36.2 percent on catch-and-shoot treys and 40.4 percent on pull-up opportunities, according to NBA.com's player tracking data. 

All told, Gordon finished his first season in Houston by canning a career-high 246 threes. Only Stephen Curry (324), Klay Thompson (268) and James Harden (262) made more. 

"One thing Coach told me, 'If you're going to come off the bench, you better win Sixth Man of the Year,'" Gordon said in February, according to the Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen. "I'm going to take advantage of that. It's always good to hear how the coach pushes you to that edge of being really good."

With some new hardware in tow, Gordon will now set his sights on a repeat performance during the 2017-18 season as the Rockets attempt to push through a crowded Western Conference and make amends for their sloppy second-round playoff exit.