As we hit the midway point of the 2018-19 NBA season, here is an update at this year’s MVP race
The 2018-19 NBA MVP race this year has been a little different to years past. Most seasons, there is a clear front-runner or it may be a race between a couple of guys. However, this year, there are eight or nine players that are legitimately in the running and could potentially have a chance of winning the most coveted individual award in professional basketball.
Let’s take a look at the top 10 candidates so far this season…
10. Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors
Season stats: 28.2 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 6.1 apg, 0.8 spg, 1.1 bpg, 51% fg, 37% 3 pt, 91% ft
Team record: 29-14 (2nd in West)
Kevin Durant is just having a typical “Kevin Durant” season this year. In fact, this might just be his best individual campaign since joining the Golden State Warriors back in 2016. The 28 points a night is his highest scoring clip since his days with OKC and he’s also averaging a career-high six assists per game!
However, the reason Durant is not higher on this list is that his impressive individual output is not translating to wins (or at least the volume of wins Golden State fans are used to). He’s also being held back by a certain teammate who we will get to in a little bit.
The only way I see KD seriously making a run at his second MVP award is if Stephen Curry goes down with another injury and he manages to carry this squad for an extended stretch but he did already have that opportunity earlier in the year and just couldn’t capitalise.