NBA union announces awards players will vote on

Sam Amick | USA TODAY Sports

Kevin Durant may finally be getting his way. Sort of.

Nearly three months after the Oklahoma City Thunder star voiced his opinion that NBA players should vote on the league's regular season awards instead of the media, first-year National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts issued an internal memo announcing the "2015 Players Choice Awards."

The memo, which was obtained by USA TODAY Sports, stated that anonymous votes will be cast and the winners will be announced at a summer meeting in Las Vegas. The media has voted on NBA awards since the 1980-81 season.

"This program was created at your request to recognize outstanding performance of your peers, on and off the court," Roberts wrote. "No one knows better than you what it takes to shine."

Durant has hardly been alone when it comes to being critical of the media landscape in the NBA, as Roberts questioned the pre-game locker-room access given to reporters in an interview with ESPN that was published less than two weeks after Durant's comments.

Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry, an MVP candidate, shared his view on the voting situation in a mid-March interview on The Dan Patrick Show as well, saying that players should be given part of the MVP vote.

"I think (players) should have a portion of the vote," Curry told Patrick. "Obviously we're the ones playing against each other. We know who's having the best year, who's doing things that really stand out. So I think that should be a part of the vote, for sure."

Roberts indicated in the memo that MVP is among the awards that will be voted on, and there is a "Man of the Year" award as well that will honor a player's efforts in the community.

Follow Sam Amick on Twitter @sam_amick.

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