Oklahoma City Thunder: How Paul George has become an MVP favorite

Oklahoma City Thunder: How Paul George has become an MVP frontrunner

OAKLAND, CA - FEBRUARY 06: Paul George #13 and Russell Westbrook #0 of the Oklahoma City Thunder looks on against the Golden State Warriors during the second half of their NBA basketball game at ORACLE Arena on February 6, 2018 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

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Oklahoma City Thunder Paul George (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

The Paul George MVP Recipe

Typically, in order for a player to win an MVP award, they need to excel in four key areas:

Stats/box score numbers
Team success/winning
Narrative/storyline
Signature MVP games/moments

Now, let’s see how PG does in each of these categories and if he should actually be leading this year’s NBA MVP race…

The Numbers Argument

Up until the all-star break this season, Paul George has been putting up 28.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 2.3 steals and 0.5 blocks a night on 45 percent from the field, 41 percent on 3’s and 84 percent from the line.

Those are MVP numbers across the board and they more than stack up with the other guys in the race.

On offence, he stuffs the stat sheet with the best of them and he has managed to become one of the deadliest perimeter snipers in the league, connecting on over 40 percent of his triples on 9.6 attempts per game!

But it’s not just offence in which PG is dominating; he’s also in the conversation for best perimeter defender in all of basketball with the likes of Kawhi Leonard. He has some of the most active hands in the NBA on defence, always keeping them up and moving around, anticipating passes being thrown his way.

Because of this, he leads the league in steals but his impact on the less glamorous end of the floor goes well beyond box score numbers. Night after night, PG is tasked with not only carrying the scoring load on offence, but he is often tasked with shutting down the best perimeter player on the other side; a task in which George more often than not lives up to.

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