The National Basketball Players Association named its “Backbone Award” winner for each NBA team earlier this week.
The award is described as followed:
The Timberwolves’ winner was Taj Gibson, which isn’t a surprise. Gibson was the ultimate glue guy for the Wolves on both sides of the court.
In his first season with the Wolves, Gibson averaged 12.2 points (most since 2013-14) and a career-high 7.1 rebounds per game while shooting a career-high 57.7 percent from the field. His 7.2 win shares were a career best as well for the power forward.