On April 28, 2001, after the Spurs defeated the Timberwolves 89-72 on the road, they swept the Timberwolves with a total score of 3-0, thus entering the Western Conference semifinals this season, this game is also Garnett's best play in this series, when Duncan was plagued by fouls and only played 25 minutes, Garnett shot 12 of 20 in this game, 6 of 8 free throws, scored a game-high 30 points, 14 rebounds, but it didn't work, The rest of the Timberwolves players remained the same as in the previous game, with no one in double figures in the game, and Szczebiak, the Timberwolves' second-most scorer, scored just nine points. On the Spurs' side, although Duncan only got 12 points and 10 rebounds, David Robinson scored 23 points and 17 rebounds in this game, while Meng Xu also contributed 25 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists.

Just the day after the game between the Spurs and the Timberwolves, the major awards of this season's regular season were announced one by one. The first to be revealed is the best rookie, the overall level of rookies this season is outrageously low, originally last season's rookies were called the worst rookies, but this season's rookies can't even touch the heels of last season's rookies. In the end, Mike Miller, a rookie from the Magic, averaged 11.9 points, 4 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game, becoming the best rookie of the season, and McMiller was also very honored to be the best rookie of all time.

And this season's best defensive player was won by 76ers center DiCambe Mutombo, after Mourning missed the whole season due to kidney replacement surgery, and Meng Xu also began to take on more responsibilities on the offensive end, which led to a decline in defensive efficiency, DiCambe Mutombo basically had no competitors in the selection of the best defensive player this season, In the end, relying on the statistics of 13.5 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game, Dicambe Mutombo won the fourth Defensive Player of the Year trophy of his career.

As Iverson's backup, Aaron McKiba played in a total of 76 games this season, including 43 off the bench, averaging 11.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 5 assists per game. After these two awards were announced, most media outlets were already convinced that Iverson would miss out on this season's regular season MVP, and these two awards were the league's compensation for the 76ers. And when the next best coach selection was announced, this view began to be accepted by most people, because from any point of view, whether it is George Karl, who led the Bucks to 13 more wins than last season, and Popovich, who won 60 games this season, they are more qualified for the best coach of the season than Larry Brown.

The league then announced the All-Defensive Team and All-Defensive Team for the season, and as with the controversy over the best coach, the controversy became even louder when the All-Defensive Team of the Season was announced. The best defensive team of the season is center Dicambe Mutombo, two forwards are Meng Xu and Tim Duncan, and two guards are Jason Kidd and Gary Payton. The All-Defensive Team is centered David Robinson, two forwards Bruce Bowen and Kevin Garnett, while the two guards are Doug Christie and Kobe Bryant.

The All-Star team was named by center Shaquille O'Neal, two forwards Meng Xu and Tim Duncan, and two guards were Jason Kidd and Allen Iverson. The best team for the second team is Dicambe Mutombo, Kevin Garnett, Chris Webb, Tracy? McGrady, Kobe Bryant and. The All-Star team is David Robinson, Dirk Nowitzki, Karl Malone, Vince Carter, and Gary Payton.

As soon as these two lists came out, they caused countless controversies, first of all, Kobe and O'Neal were selected for the best team, although in terms of data and team records, the performance of these two is indisputable, but Kobe and O'Neal have missed more than 20 games this season, and in this case, the two can still be selected for the best team, and the league's selection criteria have to be questioned by the outside world.

And the biggest controversy still comes from Meng Xu, this season's Meng Xu's data has improved by leaps and bounds compared with last season, although he lost to Maddie in the selection of the most improved player, However, Meng Xu averaged 18.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 3.1 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game, and his performance was already very good, but in the selection of the best team, Meng Xu overwhelmed Chris Webber, Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki and other superstars who performed well, and was selected as a forward for the best team this season. And everyone with a discerning eye knows that although Meng Xu's registered position is a small forward, Meng Xu has played as a playmaker for most of the Spurs this season, and with Meng Xu's performance this season, if he enters the best team as a guard, it may not be so controversial.

Therefore, now there are many so-called basketball bricks, and they have begun to call on the league to reform the selection rules of the best team, first of all, to set a standard, that is, to play at least 70 games in the regular season to be eligible to participate in the selection of the best team, and then to select the best team according to the player's position. At the same time, it is necessary to cut the number of media votes and add some basketball professionals, such as the head coaches of each team, to vote. Because when the media votes, they first start from the perspective of the fans, whether they play beautiful or not, whether they are popular with fans or not, and it is also one of their so-called selection criteria, which also leads to many players who are strong but not beautiful to play, and they will not be able to enter the best team in their lifetime.

In the midst of this controversy, on April 30, 2001, the league announced the final regular season MVP selection results, this year's regular season MVP selection is also considered to be the most suspenseful year, the Spurs' 60-win record, proud of the entire league, the only player who can pose a threat to Duncan, O'Neal has rested too many games this season, and has been criticized so much for being selected for the best team, and this season the Lakers have won more than 10 games less than last season, in this case, O'Neal is unlikely to be the MVP of the season, and the final voting results prove it, as O'Neal received only one first vote in this year's MVP poll.

Chris Webber, on the other hand, has been out of the MVP competition since the second half of the season because of his poor performance in a few games directly opposite Duncan. And the last remaining opponent is Allen Iverson, originally after the All-Star Game, the 76ers, who experienced a wave of consecutive defeats, not only gave up the first position in the East, but also caused Iverson to fall directly behind Duncan and Webb in the MVP rankings, but with the 76's consecutive wins at the end of the season, and the Spurs continued to adjust the lineup at the end of the season, and finally the 76ers beat the Bucks to become the first place in the East again, and the record was only 4 wins worse than the Spurs.

Finally, after this year's regular season MVP selection was released, Tim Duncan received 53 of the 121 first-choice votes, and Iverson received 47, although Duncan finally won the regular season MVP this season, but Duncan's 53 first-choice votes are also the MVP with the fewest votes in the last 10 years.

On the afternoon of May 1, 2001, the Alamo Arena, which can accommodate more than 30,000 spectators, was already full, and today it is the only time this season that the Alamo Arena is open to all Spurs fans for free. Just after Duncan won the regular season MVP this season, the management of the Spurs originally wanted to hold a celebration ceremony for Duncan at the beginning of the second round of the playoffs, but the Jazz, who had led the Mavericks 2-0, lost the game on their home court.

In today's Alamo Stadium, Duncan is undoubtedly the only protagonist, in the center of the court, on a temporary high platform, there is this season's regular season MVP trophy, and Duncan is holding the microphone to deliver his MVP speech, while the rest of the Spurs' players, and coaching management staff, are sitting under the high platform, looking at the protagonist on the court today.

"If Tim had a system, he would have been able to collect 5 MVP points in no time." Looking at Duncan, who was giving a speech on the high platform, Meng Xu also said with envy in his heart. This year is Duncan's fourth season in the league, and this regular season MVP is also Duncan's fourth MVP, just after Duncan was crowned this season's regular season MVP, some media have ranked Duncan among the top ten superstars in NBA history, and even said with great certainty that if the Spurs complete 3 consecutive championships this season, then no matter what Duncan's career will be like in the future, his historical status will not fall out of the top 5. Think about it, if the Spurs win the championship this season, then Duncan will win 3 championships, 3 FMVPs, 1 regular season MVP, and 1 All-Star MVP in the first 4 years of his career, which is basically more than most superstars have won in their entire careers. 3 championships in 4 years, this kind of gorgeous start, even Jordan has to bow down.

After thinking about it for a while, Meng Xu also felt a burst of loss and regret in his heart, and at this time, listening to the cheers of "MVP, MVPMVP ......" one after another on the scene, although Meng Xu still had a smile on his face when he looked at Duncan, but Meng Xu's eyes were now more than just envy and jealousy.

"One day, I'll be on this stage like Tim."