What a wild first half of the season it’s been for the MVP Race.
LeBron James was the MVP favourite a few weeks out from the All-Star break, carrying the Lakers without Anthony Davis to multiple wins late in games, posting big numbers (albeit against the lacklustre competition in some OT wins), but irrelevant when numbers and wins are all that really matters in the MVP Race.
Along came Joel Embiid before the All-Star break, who went on an absolute tear, lifting Philly to outright 1st in the Eastern Conference, and looking as fit and healthy as ever.
His big statement performance came against a flying Utah Jazz team, and defensive player of the year favourite Rudy Gobert, posting 40 Points, 19 Rebounds, 3 Assists, and 2 Blocks, catapulting his way to leader in the MVP race heading into the mid-season All-Star break.
Embiid’s favouritism was short-lived, as he was struck down with a knee injury, and LeBron James re-took his crown as the leader in the MVP clubhouse. Again, this did not last very long, as earlier this week LeBron suffered a high ankle sprain, which now sees him on the sideline for several weeks, and just about ends the debate of him winning MVP this season (as well as Embiid).
This leaves the question. Who’s the Real MVP Now?
Nikola Jokic is the current front runner to win the award this season, and even without Embiid and LeBron going down, he was well and truly in the race prior. The only thing holding Jokic back was the Nuggets' poor record during that stretch, but with the Nuggets now flying along nicely at 26-17, it’s hard not to notice the big man’s dominance this season!
Jokic has been phenomenal this season, posting 27.1 PPG, 8.6 APG, and 11.3 RPG, to lead a Nuggets team to 5th in the standings, just 1.5 back on a Lakers team on the slide in 4th without their two big stars.
If Jokic continues to put these numbers up and get Denver into a 3-4 seed in the West heading into the playoffs, it’ll be hard not to give the big Serbian his first and well-deserved MVP Award.
Giannis Antetokounmpo has also re-entered the MVP conversation, attempting to win 3 straight, and it’s hard not to make an argument for the Greek Freak!
Giannis is coming off an All-Star MVP award and wants to add to his trophy cabinet this season, and with his stellar play, he has the Bucks just 2 games back of Philly in 1st. Giannis’ numbers have been off the charts this season, averaging 29 PPG, 6.4 APG, and 11.7 RPG.
The NBA loves trying to rotate this award around, so winning 3rd in a row seems pretty tough, but it’s hard not to make a very solid argument for Giannis if he can get this team a top 2 finish out in a top-heavy East posting numbers like this.
Damian Lillard, probably the most disrespected superstar in the NBA, has been on a tear this season for Portland, lifting them to 6th in the West, whilst playing without their 2nd and 3rd options for the majority of the season. Dame has averaged 30.1 PPG, 7.7 APG, and 4.4 RPG, and has single-handedly carried the Blazers team to an extremely respectable 25-18 record, just 2.5 back of the Lakers in 4th place in the West.
You get the feeling Lillard doesn’t get the love most of these other superstars get due to the fact he’s playing in a small market team that plays late on the West Coast, which is simply wrong.
It may come down to overall standings at the end of the season, as if Dame and Jokic’s numbers stay somewhat similar, it would be hard not to tip the MVP award in favour of the team finishing higher out West.
Lastly, James Harden. Yes, he quit on his Houston Rockets team. He was miserable. But what he’s done for this Brooklyn team, taking a back seat to Kyrie on a scoring front becoming the team’s lead facilitator, has shocked yours truly.
This Brooklyn team hasn’t had this Big 3 on the floor for a fair chunk of the season, with KD being out for a while now, but that hasn’t stopped Harden from leading this team to some big victories, placing them nicely 1 game back of Philly in 1st.
Harden looks a lot happier since his big move and is averaging 25.3 PPG, 11.2 APG, and 7.9 RPG. Outrageous numbers for a guy who prided himself on being the league’s leading scorer, he’s come to realise winning is the most important thing, and once healthy, will have 2 of the most dominant scorers in the game playing alongside him.
When Brooklyn are back to 100% health, it’s near impossible to see anyone beating this team in a 7 game series, and if Harden continues his play as such being the key distributor, it’ll also be impossible to turn a blind eye to his stellar play.
So who’s your Real MVP heading into the back half of the season?
Bauky