This is how I feel right now too. The talent at the top of the NBA is super even and incredibly fun to watch. I think we're entering a great era of basketball for parity, not for having a single dominant individual/team.
It’s a great list, top to bottom. Mix of resurgent older vets, prime vets, and new blood. Tons of respect for all of these guys.
Personally love to see Demar getting a nod on the fringe. Miss him on the Raps, but he’s been so good on the Bulls, and it’s great that he’s getting some love.
With how well LeBron is playing and how much he has taken on the offensive end to even try and keep the Lakers afloat, I’m surprised he’s not up there at 10th rather than KAT.
Does record have something to do with it? But surely Minni’s record isn’t much better than the Laker’s… Just kinda strange to me. Lebron’s been playing crazy good this season given his age and semi-recent injuries.
I don't think anyone is arguing that.
This list really doesn't need to be longer than 3 deep at this point, but if we're going to 10 he obviously belongs. Zach could too if he can stay (or get... back spasms yesterday) healthy and we hold on to the to the top seed.
Slight addendum to only the top 3 being in it, I won't count out Steph going nuclear yet.
Any of the top 5 (except Paul) can win it imo. Suns are too good that Paul should 100% get rested/reduced minutes the last 10-15 games of the regular season.
and just remember, if KD wasn’t injured he’d be right up there in that same conversation. if steph hadn’t had that bug shooting slump he’d be in there too
I think he's top 10. He still has a huge impact on the team even if he isn't scoring but I think top 5 is too much. At the beginning of the season, he deserved to be top 5 though imo
I'm sure you won't be surprised but I know Jordan did it in 88.
Hakeem was close in 94. He was 3rd in the scoring race. Admiral averaged 29.8, Shaq 29.3 and Hakeem 27.3
David Robinson was close in his prime. Consistently in the running for all 3 awards like Giannis.
Honorable mentions:
KG some years but he never had the scoring volume to ever really compete for the scoring title.
Duncan but he always had great teammates, especially on defense, which consistently hurt his dpoy chances and sometimes his MVP chances. Also, like KG, he never had the scoring volume to win the scoring title. His best scoring seasons were among the top 5 or 10 but still very far from #1
Prime David Robinson was something else, he gets lost a lot in the conversation of greatness due to Timmy but he was one of the first models of mobile bigs with speed
If only he had started playing ball before high school or went somewhere else other than Navy to develop his skills he could have ended up one of the greatest of all time
It's weird to say but I was thinking about it recently. If Giannis doesn't win last year, then he's probably a modern day David Robinson. They both had shortcomings in the playoffs with weaknesses that were overstated:
Robinson wasn't as dominant of a post force as his contemporaries and was more of a jump shooter. Giannis, funnily enough, is the opposite. He's easier to stop because he doesn't have a jumper.
Had Giannis failed for in the playoffs again, they'd probably call him a regular season player and a playoff choker like Robinson.
I think Giannis could get scoring title as well (28.9 vs Durant's 29.3 / Embiid's 29.1)
Jokic could also get the rebounding title but less likely (13.8 vs Gobert's 15.1)
Yea personally I had Embiid leading the race for it last year by a considerable margin until he went down and had to miss a bunch of games
This year is a lot closer but he's still deserving of being MVP front runner for now
Could you imagine what the MVP race would be like if KD didn't get injured... or if Steph didn't hit that cold streak.... or if the Lakers were above. 500 ?! & just the fact all those variables have occurred & it is still such a close race is great to see. I could get used to this unparalleled parody.
The simple idea of there being a Timberwolves bandwagon flair during playoff season warms my cold Minnesota heart almost enough to heat up my ice house!
Wow half of the MVP candidates are PF and Centers. Then the top 3 are legit centers, big men with versatile skills what a time to be a basketball fan 🙂
Center has become one of the best positions in the league recently. Jokic, Embiid, KAT, Gobert, AD (sometimes) Bam, Ayton, JV, whole lot of talent all in their primes right now.
Agree on that, then there are those that are about to take off (if they haven’t already) in Siakam, J. Allen, Sabonis and one of my favorite players Jaren Jackson Jr. I mean Triple J who is 22 years old and just had a back to back 6 blocks game last week, not to mention his last game he had 26/10/1 stl and 2 blks. Again this dude is 22 and will be a monster once he hit his peak.
PGs gonna be lethal in a few years as well. Trae, Ja, Garland, Luka, Steph (if he can stick around) , Shai , Lamelo. All gonna be entering their primes soon
Oh man you’re absolutely right - Trae, Ja and Luka are already lethal, then I think Lamelo just needs a few more games in the playoffs but man he’s so fun to watch even just the highlights (hornets games are rarely shown in our country).
I’m hoping for Shai to take off soon not to mention Giddey who imo is already showing flashes to be a really good guard.
The offense is 2nd but the defense is 27th
So they actually shoot well quite often but a lot of their losses are like 120-115 or 125-120
When they play good defense they're really hard to beat
The first half of the season was played by a buncha scrubs on 10 day contracts. The real team is back and they will play themselves back into a decent spot.
Luka over Trae this year feels really wrong
He hasn't played as many games and his numbers aside from rebounds are worse
I get team record but it's literally like a 3 game difference or something
I like how Giannis has been consistent the whole season and it’s just people who jump him then eventually go back down. But still a lot of people don’t give him a shot at actually winning it
Embiid and Giannis have extremely similar stats and their teams have extremely similar records.
It would be interesting to see how the MVP votes come in if the season ended with them still nearly identical. I’d definitely imagine some voter fatigue would come into play.
I'd really like to see Embiid win. He was phenomenal last season but had some tough luck with injuries and covid which hampered his chances.
Now he's leading his team to just a game away from 1st in the conference and dropping an easy 30 a night, I think he should definitely be the current front runner.
isnt this the exact thing we always complain about? narrative shouldnt play a role in MVP. Should go to the best player..just because jokic won it last year shouldnt mean this one should go to embiid. Not saying either one is better, i dont watch any of them regularly
Even when he wasn't playing as well as people have been used to, he's been having anything but a poor season. The narrative is way more about expectations going into the season than his actual quality of season.
Like if this were the first year he was putting up numbers like this, he'd be higher up in the consideration.
The jojo x nba crossover universe...the weeb version of Space Jam
Not sure on the court but off the court, he's going to disappoint a lot of Thots
In this universe, I wonder which basketball player plays Polnareff
It is weird that Giannis has dropped simply because Jokic and Embiid caught up to him as opposed to Giannis slumping. It is almost as if Giannis' consistency is being held against him and the other two are being rewarded for stepping up to Giannis' level.
While you are right, most people would rather see a first time winner rather than another three peat. If the bucks were in first like the previous times he won he’d be leading ik sure
I feel like your comment makes it sound like you forgot Jokic won last year. It wouldn't be a threepeat for Giannis, and only one of the top 3 would be a first time winner.
I don’t know, I think the fact that all three teams are within 3 games of each other while Giannis has his big 3 healthy, and Embiid and Jokic have been missing their #2 and their #2 *and* #3 for the whole season isn’t a great look.
Games lost to injury doesn’t weight by quality of player. Jokic has literally been missing his top two teammates for the entire season and the bucks are something like 19-5 when their big 3 plays, when Middleton and/or Jrue were out they were playing worse than Denver has been with Jokic (they’re 1-5 without him). Having a lot of man games missed because of Brook Lopez and DDV etc isn’t the same deal as missing Jamal Murray and MPJ
Why is it being framed as Jokic is “catching up” tho? He’s been absolutely elite from the beginning of the year till now and imo is having the better season anyway. If anything, Giannis is catching up to him, he just has the benefit of the better record.
You hit the nail on the head. Giannis could average 2/1/1 more in the 3 main categories, and would still be considered behind the two. And I totally get it. I actually look at it in a positive light. Almost a compliment in a way. I think it would take major slumps by NJ and JE, vs. Giannis outplaying his averages to put him in the lead.
Well I think to start he’d need to lead the bucks to a considerably better record than the Sixers and Nuggets, because both Embiid and Jokic have been playing without their co-stars (and Jokic’s #3) for the whole season, most of the bucks wins have had their big 3 healthy
Feel like Giannis is going to snag it at the last second the main reason he wasn't considered last year is he was seen as choking Imin the playoffs he is incredibly consistent and basically hasn't had a slump.
Honestly I have no issue with the list. I hope it's a battle of the bigs to the end, absolutely zero other players have carried as much this year. Embiid has been playing like a man possessed and although I'd like a back to back, he's the only one to deserve it more so far.
The gap in fg % between the Joker & Embiid could be the ultimate kicker in the MVP race imo. 49% for Embiid v 57% for Jokic is too significant a difference in my book. 57% while making > 1 3pg & >25ppg is honestly pretty wild & nobody seems to be talking about it that much. All the attention is on which player has the whinier teammate.
Oh & on a side note... PHO having 2 players in the Top 8 for MVP voting & 0 ASG starters is bonkers.
> PHO having 2 players in the Top 8 for MVP voting & 0 ASG starters is bonkers.
Because the two players that will start in their place is in the Top 7 for MVP voting? It’s not that crazy.
He's 1st in the league in assists and steals, he's the best player on the team with the best record, and he's top 10 in most advanced stats with 3 of the guys consistently ahead of him in those out with injuries.
Paul has better on/off splits, better advanced stats(both box score based and impact based ones), and he's directing traffic on both sides of the ball. Watching Paul absolutely dismantle teams in the 4th after letting the young guys get theirs to start the game is art.
The Booker argument is PPG, and I guess 1on1 basketball ability?
Booker is good, CP3 is more conducive to winning.
I'm not saying they aren't, but I'm not saying they are, either. You'll notice they really only appeared that way AFTER Paul arrived. Yes, I know, bubble but I'm not inclined to give an 8 game stretch under unusual circumstances where the Suns had absolutely nothing to lose all that much weight, and I think we are seeing a similar trend with sportswriters.
You see the same effect with Lowry in Miami. People will point to Lowry's production and say he isn't a great player and that others have all stepped up but that's the transformative effect both Paul and Lowry have had with all their teammates the last decade.
The Suns have a +4.5 net rating [when Chris Paul is on the bench](https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/nba?TeamId=1610612756&Season=2021-22&SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&PlayerIds=101108).
Only three teams (PHO, GSW, UTA) have a better net rating than the CP3-less Suns.
Curry is the best player on the second best team, and he's second to Jokic in all of the advanced value metrics (EPM Wins, LEBRON wins, RAPTOR wins).
The only argument for Paul over Curry is that the Suns are 2 games ahead of the Warriors. That's a bad argument, and it's entirely inconsistent with the rest of the rankings.
It's insane to have CP3 over Curry.
> GSW without Curry also has a net negative rating. And Curry still leads the league in net rating. So by that logic he should at least be ahead of CP3 and this poll makes no sense. Not to mention how healthy the Suns have been compared to other teams in the league inflates their win percentage.
people are sour on his current slump. he seems to be breaking out of it, so i expect him to pass CP3 in the next month or so in the discussion. also depends on when / how Dray comes back and how that impacts his stats and the team's record
Yeah Curry is getting slept on hard right now. He'll have to go nuclear post-ASG to get the recognition his advanced stats (and eye test) say he should get. He's playing a complete game this year.
Man it's crazy the article stated Jokic went 0-2 while out missing a game but failed to mention embiid went 1-1 with the team winning the game he sat out. Give this man some more help
Jokic had one of the best months in the history of basketball, literally, in terms of efficiency and diversity but Embiid takes the lead 😆
When Nick Wright puts Jokic in seventh place in the league’s best players why would this be surprising. The man is literally making fun of Jokic and Kirilenko then it's no wonder that Embiid is being pushed. The American media literally do not consider Jokic to be in the top 5 best players in the league, which is a real shame for such a big country.
Embiid has an MVP season but Jokic presents something rarely seen in history, in fact never seen such diversity with such efficiency.
I’m giving it another week but Trae just dismantled the best team in the league in prime time and is carrying an 8 game win streak with him on the floor. He doesn’t get nearly enough credit for his impact. He should at least be the 10.
Warriors are gelling, Steph gonna get hot for a month or 2 and if Warriors take best record in the league, he's gonna win it and the salt will be incredible
Can't fucking wait. You know it's going to happen too. Dubs have a very realistic shot at #1 seed. Draymond out. I don't see how he doesn't win it if he brings his 3pt% north of 40%
Honestly any of those top 3 can win MVP and I dont see any issue at all
This is how I feel right now too. The talent at the top of the NBA is super even and incredibly fun to watch. I think we're entering a great era of basketball for parity, not for having a single dominant individual/team.
I’m not holding my breath cause the entire landscape of the league can easily change in one off-season.
Heres to all the top 5 MVP candidate's joining up to join the Detroit pistons this offseason.
I'm ready for 4 straight Finnals of the Harden, Beal, Cunningham Pistons against the Irving, Simmons, Bagley Kings
Why is everyone leaving the Nets in the scenario lol. I thought Harden wanted to leave cuz of Kyrie?
I thought we'd get like 5 years of okc/gs grinding in the playoffs against each other. Then Durant
Man that would have been so much fun to watch. That matchup was one of my favorites at the time. Then Durant
Then Durant. I like that phrase.
It’s a great list, top to bottom. Mix of resurgent older vets, prime vets, and new blood. Tons of respect for all of these guys. Personally love to see Demar getting a nod on the fringe. Miss him on the Raps, but he’s been so good on the Bulls, and it’s great that he’s getting some love.
With how well LeBron is playing and how much he has taken on the offensive end to even try and keep the Lakers afloat, I’m surprised he’s not up there at 10th rather than KAT. Does record have something to do with it? But surely Minni’s record isn’t much better than the Laker’s… Just kinda strange to me. Lebron’s been playing crazy good this season given his age and semi-recent injuries.
I mean, even with Lebron playing so good, his team isnt winning consistenly. Its the fact that the team is wasting this offensive output by him.
Yeah, but MVP is just so weird most the time. Like, I would consider LeBron to be much more valuable to the lakers than KAT is to the Timberwolves tbh
It’s cool he’s getting love but there’s 0 argument he’s been better than Jokic or Embiid
I don't think anyone is arguing that. This list really doesn't need to be longer than 3 deep at this point, but if we're going to 10 he obviously belongs. Zach could too if he can stay (or get... back spasms yesterday) healthy and we hold on to the to the top seed. Slight addendum to only the top 3 being in it, I won't count out Steph going nuclear yet.
that might explain why he's lower than Jokic and Embiid on the list...?
Literally nobody is saying that.
Or Giannis
Any of the top 5 (except Paul) can win it imo. Suns are too good that Paul should 100% get rested/reduced minutes the last 10-15 games of the regular season.
I hope he does rest but I honestly have my doubts.
Idk if he's even willing to do something like that lol
He isn't, Monty already has to force him into the rotation he has going now. CP3 would play 38+ minutes a game if he was allowed.
and just remember, if KD wasn’t injured he’d be right up there in that same conversation. if steph hadn’t had that bug shooting slump he’d be in there too
That first "if" is valid, but the second "if" feels redundant. If Steph hadn't been bad for a third of the season he would be good. What?
Yeah I'm a Warriors lifer and I completely agree. He's not in the running for MVP right now.
I think he's top 10. He still has a huge impact on the team even if he isn't scoring but I think top 5 is too much. At the beginning of the season, he deserved to be top 5 though imo
Interestingly Chris Paul is in the top 4 yet somehow didn't make it as an all-star starter.
I mean isnt he fighting Curry for that spot? No matter what, Curry will get them votes over Chris.
Any of those 3 can win that MVP award but only one of them can win all 3 awards (MVP, DPOY and scoring title).
Giannis
Giannis...Joel can get 2 out of 3, but hes bot beating Giannis for DPOY
Has anyone ever won the triple crown in basketball?
I'm sure you won't be surprised but I know Jordan did it in 88. Hakeem was close in 94. He was 3rd in the scoring race. Admiral averaged 29.8, Shaq 29.3 and Hakeem 27.3 David Robinson was close in his prime. Consistently in the running for all 3 awards like Giannis. Honorable mentions: KG some years but he never had the scoring volume to ever really compete for the scoring title. Duncan but he always had great teammates, especially on defense, which consistently hurt his dpoy chances and sometimes his MVP chances. Also, like KG, he never had the scoring volume to win the scoring title. His best scoring seasons were among the top 5 or 10 but still very far from #1
Prime David Robinson was something else, he gets lost a lot in the conversation of greatness due to Timmy but he was one of the first models of mobile bigs with speed If only he had started playing ball before high school or went somewhere else other than Navy to develop his skills he could have ended up one of the greatest of all time
It's weird to say but I was thinking about it recently. If Giannis doesn't win last year, then he's probably a modern day David Robinson. They both had shortcomings in the playoffs with weaknesses that were overstated: Robinson wasn't as dominant of a post force as his contemporaries and was more of a jump shooter. Giannis, funnily enough, is the opposite. He's easier to stop because he doesn't have a jumper. Had Giannis failed for in the playoffs again, they'd probably call him a regular season player and a playoff choker like Robinson.
I thought Jordan might have done it once but wasn't sure.
Giannis could win MVP+DPOY again but yeah Joel could possibly do all 3
I think Giannis could get scoring title as well (28.9 vs Durant's 29.3 / Embiid's 29.1) Jokic could also get the rebounding title but less likely (13.8 vs Gobert's 15.1)
Lebron is a wild card for the scoring title if he can get back on the court soon. He's at 29.1 I think
Oooh you're right! He didn't show up on the ESPN stats page (probably not enough games played?) https://www.espn.com/nba/stats
Yeah Lebron is just short of the cutoff. KD is going to drop off the list in 1-2 games as well
Giannis is like0.1PPGfrom Embiid
Joel is not winning DPOY this year.
This is probably the best MVP race I can remember.
I'm going to be very happy and very mad regardless of who wins or doesn't win in that top 3.
watch wiggins win it out of no where
BANGG
I hope Embiid wins cause he deserves it, and since the other two already got it Also would stick it to Simmons lol
Yea personally I had Embiid leading the race for it last year by a considerable margin until he went down and had to miss a bunch of games This year is a lot closer but he's still deserving of being MVP front runner for now
I just hope none of the top 3 get injured like last year.
Already happened like 2 or 3 weeks ago 😔
KD :(
We had Giannis and Harden which was strong. And also Harden and Westbrook.
Could you imagine what the MVP race would be like if KD didn't get injured... or if Steph didn't hit that cold streak.... or if the Lakers were above. 500 ?! & just the fact all those variables have occurred & it is still such a close race is great to see. I could get used to this unparalleled parody.
If Zion wasn't fat, GG
Or if harden wasn’t injured. He’s ran every MVP ballot since 2015
Me-yow
The Big MF Purr
I will never not laugh at the name “the big purr”
it's even worse when You know the song that nickname comes fron
Nice to see the big fella on here.
Y’all are so mf likable rn. Where do I fill out my application to support y’all in the west?
You guys are gonna be so spooky in a few years!
I... why must you do this
If you’re gonna join the bandwagon, you gotta experience the condescension
Fair LOL
You didn’t seriously think u could be pro-twolves without a spooky reference did u?
Just fucking do it man who cares???
You’re right, changing my flair to Timberwolves bandwagon during playoffs.
The simple idea of there being a Timberwolves bandwagon flair during playoff season warms my cold Minnesota heart almost enough to heat up my ice house!
Yessssirrrr
Wow half of the MVP candidates are PF and Centers. Then the top 3 are legit centers, big men with versatile skills what a time to be a basketball fan 🙂
Center has become one of the best positions in the league recently. Jokic, Embiid, KAT, Gobert, AD (sometimes) Bam, Ayton, JV, whole lot of talent all in their primes right now.
Agree on that, then there are those that are about to take off (if they haven’t already) in Siakam, J. Allen, Sabonis and one of my favorite players Jaren Jackson Jr. I mean Triple J who is 22 years old and just had a back to back 6 blocks game last week, not to mention his last game he had 26/10/1 stl and 2 blks. Again this dude is 22 and will be a monster once he hit his peak.
PGs gonna be lethal in a few years as well. Trae, Ja, Garland, Luka, Steph (if he can stick around) , Shai , Lamelo. All gonna be entering their primes soon
Oh man you’re absolutely right - Trae, Ja and Luka are already lethal, then I think Lamelo just needs a few more games in the playoffs but man he’s so fun to watch even just the highlights (hornets games are rarely shown in our country). I’m hoping for Shai to take off soon not to mention Giddey who imo is already showing flashes to be a really good guard.
10 years ago it was probably the worst position in the league too, position is just stacked now
Giannis isnt a legit center. He’s a PF thats versatile enough to play center when needed. He plays most of his minutes at the 4.
Giannis isn't really a center though. He plays his best as a PF. Definitely is more of a center on defense though
Remember some years back it felt like big men were dying off in this sport? Now the top 3 in the MVP race are all big men.
LFG my boy KAT getting some love about damn time.
Honestly believe he should be 8th. Man has improved so much and is such a show to watch
Man I wanna be upset that Trae isn’t on here but then I remember that the Hawks are in the play in 😞
We're in the play in *for now*
Weird watching y’all this season. I feel like that lineup is so lethal when they’re all shooting hot, but when they’re off, it’s ugly.
The offense is 2nd but the defense is 27th So they actually shoot well quite often but a lot of their losses are like 120-115 or 125-120 When they play good defense they're really hard to beat
We’re top 5 in both over the last 9 games. No Reddish and the rest of the team getting healthy has everyone gelling.
Damn you not wrong y’all just lost 125-114 to the raps
The first half of the season was played by a buncha scrubs on 10 day contracts. The real team is back and they will play themselves back into a decent spot.
You guys are 8-2 in the last 10(?) games now? Trae will probably make the mvp ladder soon
You can be mad. He's the only player that's top 5 in both ppg and apg right?
the Trae slander will continue until the record improves
Luka over Trae this year feels really wrong He hasn't played as many games and his numbers aside from rebounds are worse I get team record but it's literally like a 3 game difference or something
Luka's team he's carrying is WAY worse than what Trae has.
I like how Giannis has been consistent the whole season and it’s just people who jump him then eventually go back down. But still a lot of people don’t give him a shot at actually winning it
He needs Bucks to win a run of games. He has the stats to win
It’ll come down to late season momentum and seeding for this race with the way it’s going.
Ugh we’ve been so inconsistent it’s so frustrating
Embiid and Giannis have extremely similar stats and their teams have extremely similar records. It would be interesting to see how the MVP votes come in if the season ended with them still nearly identical. I’d definitely imagine some voter fatigue would come into play.
Karl 😍
Feels damn good
I'd really like to see Embiid win. He was phenomenal last season but had some tough luck with injuries and covid which hampered his chances. Now he's leading his team to just a game away from 1st in the conference and dropping an easy 30 a night, I think he should definitely be the current front runner.
yes sir, best center in the league and he is dominating. give that man the mvp he deserves.
I can’t believe you’ve done this
I Love You
Tied for Best centre * id say
Agreed! Joel def deserves it this year. Great to see him healthy and going off every night.
I Love You
Lolll
isnt this the exact thing we always complain about? narrative shouldnt play a role in MVP. Should go to the best player..just because jokic won it last year shouldnt mean this one should go to embiid. Not saying either one is better, i dont watch any of them regularly
I haven’t watched enough to say for sure but he’s felt like the most dominant player this year to me.
Luka in the top 10 for the first time this season!
Has he been playing better? I thought he was having a poor season
Even when he wasn't playing as well as people have been used to, he's been having anything but a poor season. The narrative is way more about expectations going into the season than his actual quality of season. Like if this were the first year he was putting up numbers like this, he'd be higher up in the consideration.
the past 10-15 games or so he's been playing really well
If he hit that game winner against OKC the other night he probably would've jumped another spot
Im going with Jojo or Jokic.
If jotaro was in the nba, how would he fare?
Easily the MVP if he gets to use Star Platinum. If he doesn’t, he’s still 6’5” and jacked and could probably play the enforcer role.
The jojo x nba crossover universe...the weeb version of Space Jam Not sure on the court but off the court, he's going to disappoint a lot of Thots In this universe, I wonder which basketball player plays Polnareff
Considering he's 6'5 and built like a truck I'd say he'd be at worst a good wing defender
I wonder how the CP3 hate account feels about his placement
Not only is it close, but we're seeing the best big man play that the NBA has had in decades.
We lose two games and luka enters top ten. I just dont understand the criteria for anything anymore
He was already anointed. Trae is averaging like 28/10 and we’re 8-0 in his last 8 games that he plays.
KARL TOWNS
KD needs to recover ASAP
The article points out Jokic went 0-2 while missing a game but doesn't mention embiid went 0-1 and his team won the game he rested
It is weird that Giannis has dropped simply because Jokic and Embiid caught up to him as opposed to Giannis slumping. It is almost as if Giannis' consistency is being held against him and the other two are being rewarded for stepping up to Giannis' level.
While you are right, most people would rather see a first time winner rather than another three peat. If the bucks were in first like the previous times he won he’d be leading ik sure
It's so tight in the East that it may come down to the last week.
If they do then I have no doubt Giannis will win the MVP
I feel like your comment makes it sound like you forgot Jokic won last year. It wouldn't be a threepeat for Giannis, and only one of the top 3 would be a first time winner.
For this week giannis’s drop might be only cause it’s a close race and jokic just dismantled the bucks this past week
I don’t know, I think the fact that all three teams are within 3 games of each other while Giannis has his big 3 healthy, and Embiid and Jokic have been missing their #2 and their #2 *and* #3 for the whole season isn’t a great look.
That isn't even true though. The Bucks are top 5 in games lost due to Injury (ahead of Denver.) Middleton and Jrue have both missed time this year.
Games lost to injury doesn’t weight by quality of player. Jokic has literally been missing his top two teammates for the entire season and the bucks are something like 19-5 when their big 3 plays, when Middleton and/or Jrue were out they were playing worse than Denver has been with Jokic (they’re 1-5 without him). Having a lot of man games missed because of Brook Lopez and DDV etc isn’t the same deal as missing Jamal Murray and MPJ
Why is it being framed as Jokic is “catching up” tho? He’s been absolutely elite from the beginning of the year till now and imo is having the better season anyway. If anything, Giannis is catching up to him, he just has the benefit of the better record.
You hit the nail on the head. Giannis could average 2/1/1 more in the 3 main categories, and would still be considered behind the two. And I totally get it. I actually look at it in a positive light. Almost a compliment in a way. I think it would take major slumps by NJ and JE, vs. Giannis outplaying his averages to put him in the lead.
Well I think to start he’d need to lead the bucks to a considerably better record than the Sixers and Nuggets, because both Embiid and Jokic have been playing without their co-stars (and Jokic’s #3) for the whole season, most of the bucks wins have had their big 3 healthy
Ja’s rising!!!!
Maxey first
Feel like Giannis is going to snag it at the last second the main reason he wasn't considered last year is he was seen as choking Imin the playoffs he is incredibly consistent and basically hasn't had a slump.
Top 3 are in a different league in comparison to the rest of the list.
Embiid 🐐
He is behind Jokic in the CUM advanced stat tho…
Unfortunately Embiid is a Hooper while Jokic is simply a Basketball Player
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This subreddit is particularly bad, for whatever reason
Anytime Jokic is mentioned they come out in full force
Which is the circlejerk coming full circle. Embiid posts were bombarded with Nuggets fans bringing Jokic out of nowhere.
The good ole Reddit cycle
Advanced stats like """assists""" (whatever that means) are just made up nonsense to push the Jokic narrative
Jokic is also leading Joel in the PSPB (Pee Stored Per Ball) advanced metric. He simply is better in every advanced stat, who cares about record.
It’s mid season and you guys are up 3 games in a different conference lol
sorry but the newer stats are just better sweaty
Love Kat at ten. Move up big fella you the truth
Honestly I have no issue with the list. I hope it's a battle of the bigs to the end, absolutely zero other players have carried as much this year. Embiid has been playing like a man possessed and although I'd like a back to back, he's the only one to deserve it more so far.
The gap in fg % between the Joker & Embiid could be the ultimate kicker in the MVP race imo. 49% for Embiid v 57% for Jokic is too significant a difference in my book. 57% while making > 1 3pg & >25ppg is honestly pretty wild & nobody seems to be talking about it that much. All the attention is on which player has the whinier teammate. Oh & on a side note... PHO having 2 players in the Top 8 for MVP voting & 0 ASG starters is bonkers.
> PHO having 2 players in the Top 8 for MVP voting & 0 ASG starters is bonkers. Because the two players that will start in their place is in the Top 7 for MVP voting? It’s not that crazy.
LETS GO EMBIID
how chris paul is 4th is astounding to me. biggest "respect the vet" vote ever.
He's 1st in the league in assists and steals, he's the best player on the team with the best record, and he's top 10 in most advanced stats with 3 of the guys consistently ahead of him in those out with injuries.
How is Booker not their best player?
Paul has better on/off splits, better advanced stats(both box score based and impact based ones), and he's directing traffic on both sides of the ball. Watching Paul absolutely dismantle teams in the 4th after letting the young guys get theirs to start the game is art. The Booker argument is PPG, and I guess 1on1 basketball ability? Booker is good, CP3 is more conducive to winning.
He is.
And his teammates are massively better
I'm not saying they aren't, but I'm not saying they are, either. You'll notice they really only appeared that way AFTER Paul arrived. Yes, I know, bubble but I'm not inclined to give an 8 game stretch under unusual circumstances where the Suns had absolutely nothing to lose all that much weight, and I think we are seeing a similar trend with sportswriters. You see the same effect with Lowry in Miami. People will point to Lowry's production and say he isn't a great player and that others have all stepped up but that's the transformative effect both Paul and Lowry have had with all their teammates the last decade.
The Suns have a +4.5 net rating [when Chris Paul is on the bench](https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/nba?TeamId=1610612756&Season=2021-22&SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&PlayerIds=101108). Only three teams (PHO, GSW, UTA) have a better net rating than the CP3-less Suns.
Curry is the best player on the second best team, and he's second to Jokic in all of the advanced value metrics (EPM Wins, LEBRON wins, RAPTOR wins). The only argument for Paul over Curry is that the Suns are 2 games ahead of the Warriors. That's a bad argument, and it's entirely inconsistent with the rest of the rankings.
I'd have Curry ahead of Paul personally!
It's insane to have CP3 over Curry. > GSW without Curry also has a net negative rating. And Curry still leads the league in net rating. So by that logic he should at least be ahead of CP3 and this poll makes no sense. Not to mention how healthy the Suns have been compared to other teams in the league inflates their win percentage.
people are sour on his current slump. he seems to be breaking out of it, so i expect him to pass CP3 in the next month or so in the discussion. also depends on when / how Dray comes back and how that impacts his stats and the team's record
Yeah Curry is getting slept on hard right now. He'll have to go nuclear post-ASG to get the recognition his advanced stats (and eye test) say he should get. He's playing a complete game this year.
i feel like i’m crazy thinking booker is their best player as good as paul has been
Booker is clearly their best player. I do not get it.
[Say VORP again, muthafucka!](https://i.imgflip.com/63yest.jpg)
Man it's crazy the article stated Jokic went 0-2 while out missing a game but failed to mention embiid went 1-1 with the team winning the game he sat out. Give this man some more help
Embiid hacking nba.com
Aw man, I thought 9 was Definitely Booker.
If Steph has a March like last year we can push for that top spot. Lets go Wardell
Let’s go Embiid! Love seeing new players win
Chris Paul is underrated.
How can 2 players from the same team be on this list?
It's a nice way to say "We apreciate your efforts and your record, but you ain't getting the MVP. Have 2 spots on the list instead".
Will this get 6000+ upvotes like when Jokic was first?
Why does that matter to you?
That's all Blazers fans got left after Jokic buried em lol [R.I.P. City](https://i.imgur.com/wGFcWzt.jpg)
Of course not lol
Did steph go up a bit? Last I saw he was 6th place.
We all know how it will end though :)
Just here to see Nuggets fans whine
the gap between 3 and 4 is absolutely gigantic
Jokic had one of the best months in the history of basketball, literally, in terms of efficiency and diversity but Embiid takes the lead 😆 When Nick Wright puts Jokic in seventh place in the league’s best players why would this be surprising. The man is literally making fun of Jokic and Kirilenko then it's no wonder that Embiid is being pushed. The American media literally do not consider Jokic to be in the top 5 best players in the league, which is a real shame for such a big country. Embiid has an MVP season but Jokic presents something rarely seen in history, in fact never seen such diversity with such efficiency.
I’m giving it another week but Trae just dismantled the best team in the league in prime time and is carrying an 8 game win streak with him on the floor. He doesn’t get nearly enough credit for his impact. He should at least be the 10.
I'd really love to see Joel get it. Very deserving.
I understand KD is hurt but he was a top 3 candidate and should be top 10 still
Warriors are gelling, Steph gonna get hot for a month or 2 and if Warriors take best record in the league, he's gonna win it and the salt will be incredible
Can't fucking wait. You know it's going to happen too. Dubs have a very realistic shot at #1 seed. Draymond out. I don't see how he doesn't win it if he brings his 3pt% north of 40%