As if there was ever any doubt, Canberra Capitals star Kelsey Griffin is officially the WNBL's most valuable player.
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Griffin was named the WNBL MVP for the first time at the league's awards ceremony in Melbourne on Monday night.
Griffin polled 119 votes out of a maximum 189 to finish 20 clear of her closest rival in Dandenong's Bec Cole, while Melbourne's Lindsay Allen rounded out the top three (94).
The Canberra co-captain has long been a frontrunner for the award that lands her a spot in the WNBL All-Star five alongside Cole, Allen, Perth's Asia Taylor and Adelaide's Nia Coffey.
Three times the prospect of being crowned MVP was posed to Griffin this season - her final response on Monday was "if I get it, that’s amazing. If I don’t, I came here to do what I was meant to do so either way it’s a win".
What she was here to do was win a championship, and Canberra coach Paul Goriss has a simple reason as to why the Capitals returned to the summit.
"At the end of the day, we had Kelsey Griffin and no one else did," Goriss said.
"I knew the work ethic and knew the desire she had. I’d worked with her with Opals, worked her out with individuals, but what I just didn’t see [back then] was the relentless drive to be better every single day.
"[This season] it wasn’t once a week, it was every day. Doing extras on the basketball court, in the gym, watching film. That’s the part that surprised me most, she was meticulous in her recovery, diet, nutrition, working out, basketball, strength and conditioning.
"That’s why she so richly deserves a championship and an MVP, because I don’t think there is anybody in the league that works as hard as she does.
"I haven’t seen one [like her]. I’ve been around a lot of good players throughout my time, at the AIS. Some guys I’ve had something to do with have gone on to the NBA, and they haven’t had the work ethic Kelsey Griffin has.
"What Kelsey gets paid to what an NRL, NFL, NBA guy gets, she so richly deserves so much more for the leadership she puts in and the leadership she puts in with our group."
Griffin averaged 19.3 points (third in the league), 11.6 rebounds (first), 1.8 steals (fifth) and one block (eighth) per game, led the league in field goals and offensive rebounds, and was named in the team of the week 11 times.
She becomes Canberra's first league MVP since Abby Bishop in 2014-15, breaking Suzy Batkovic's three-year stranglehold on the award.
Griffin's Capitals teammate Kia Nurse polled 53 votes to finish equal-seventh in the MVP award with Bendigo's Becca Tobin, while Goriss finished second in the coach of the year voting behind Adelaide mentor Chris Lucas.
Goriss has never been one to be worried about personal honours, instead relishing the success of a "surreal" championship win and Griffin's achievements.
"It’s more about what we have achieved as a group rather than the personal accolades. It’s seems like a long road since that very first start, I couldn't be more proud of the girls and their effort," Goriss said.
"It just goes to show we recruited the right people to do the right job. Getting Kelsey here, that was a huge part of why we won.
"We recruited winners and wanted the right people here with the right attitude and work ethic to take the Canberra Capitals back to where they were."
WNBL AWARDS
Most valuable player - Kelsey Griffin (119 votes)
All-Star Five - Kelsey Griffin (Canberra Capitals), Bec Cole (Dandenong Rangers), Lindsay Allen (Melbourne Boomers), Asia Taylor (Perth Lynx), Nia Coffey (Adelaide Lightning)
Coach of the year - Chris Lucas (Adelaide Lightning)
Robyn Maher defensive player of the year - Lauren Nicholson (Adelaide Lightning)
Betty Watson rookie of the year - Jaz Shelley (Melbourne Boomers)
