NBA players to vote on 2015 Players Choice Awards

It turns out all those tiresome Dan Patrick interviews about this year's MVP race weren't totally hypothetical after all.

Kevin Love will be free to give his vote to pal Russell Westbrook. Westbrook can give his to that reporter he's so fond of. Anthony Davis can cast his ballot for James Harden. Steph Curry can stick it to Mark Jackson and vote for himself.

In short, 2015 will feature the NBA's Inaugural Players Choice Awards, similar to those MLB hands out annually. NBPA executive director Michele Roberts issued an internal memo, obtained by Sam Amick of USA Today, announcing the creation of the end-of-season awards.

The memo stated that anonymous votes will be cast and the winners will be announced at a summer meeting in Las Vegas.

"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."

Roberts indicated that MVP is among the awards that will be voted on, as well as a Man of the Year award to honor a player's community service work.

As NBA.com's Shaun Powell notes, player bonuses will continue to be tied to the NBA's official awards, as voted on by media members and endorsed by the league.