NBA: Giannis Antetokounmpo leading the MVP race, and it’s his to lose
A little more than a quarter through the 2019-20 season, it’s becoming clearer and clearer that the NBA MVP award is Giannis Antetokounmpo’s to lose
With a little more than one-quarter of amazing highlights within the NBA already in the books, we officially have a large enough sample size to breakdown the true candidates to win the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award.
Here are the four candidates that have separated themselves from the rest of the pack.
4. James Harden, Houston Rockets
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Season averages: 38.9 points, 7.8 assists., 5.8 rebounds, 44.6% FG, 35.5% 3PT, 86.5% FT, 5.3 TO, 32.2 PER
James Harden has established to be one among the simplest scorers within the NBA. Whereas his strategies can be a small amount unconventional, he’s averaging the foremost points within the NBA since Wilt Chamberlain averaged 44.8 points during the 1962-1963 season.
The reason Harden is not higher is that he “doesn’t play defense” and his Houston Rockets are presently underperforming by having the NBA’s seventh-best NBA record at the moment.
3. Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks
Season averages: 30.6 points, 9.6 assists., 9.9 rebounds, 48.3% FG, 33% 3PT, 82.7% FT, 4.6 TO, 32.6 PER
Luka Doncic has a sophomore season that nobody saw coming. Not solely is Luka within the running for the NBA’s MVP award, but he has to be a candidate to win the NBA’s Most Improved Player of the Year award too.
Doncic has transformed into a triple-double walking machine, and is second in the league in assists and holds the league’s second-best PER (Player Efficiency Rating). The Dallas Mavericks are also overachieving, sitting in 5th place in the Western Conference standings.
2. LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers
Season averages: 25.7 points, 10.9 assists, 7.2 rebounds, 50.1% FG, 34.5% 3PT, 68.1 FT, 3.8 TO, 27.6 PER
LeBron James is enjoying another sensational season, after somewhat of a down campaign a year ago. In his 17th season, LeBron is dominating the league in assists for the first time in his career. He’s also 10th in scoring and has a top 10 PER (Player Efficiency Rating).
Up until the last week, you could make the case that LeBron should be the frontrunner for the MVP award, but due to the team dropping a couple of games recently he has been leaped by another player on a tear.
1. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
Season averages: 30.8 points, 13.4 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 56.5% FG, 30.4% 3PT, 58.4%FT, 4.0 TO, 33.8 PER
Giannis Antetokounmpo is that the league’s influential participant and he’s wanting to become the 12th player to win the award in back to back years. At this point, Giannis is considered the frontrunner because he’s carried the Milwaukee Bucks to the best record in the NBA while posting absolutely insane numbers.
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At just 25 years old, Giannis is on the verge of overtaking LeBron as the best player in the world (if he isn’t there already) and is one deep playoff run away from taking over the league. There’s no question that, at this point in the season, Giannis is the frontrunner for the NBA’s MVP award.