With over a quarter of the season already passed, the race for the 2021/22 NBA MVP is heating up. Steph Curry has emerged as the clear favourite to win the MVP as the Golden State Warriors possess the best record in the NBA, but there are plenty of other candidates that are hot on his tails.
Here are our top five candidates for the 2021-22 NBA MVP.
1. Steph Curry – Golden State Warriors
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Steph Curry is gunning for his third NBA MVP trophy this season and has been far and away the best player in basketball this year, leading the league in plus-minus stats by a whopping 100 points. Curry is averaging nearly 28 points per game, and with 132 three-pointers made so far this campaign, Steph is on pace to make 445 threes this season, breaking his own NBA record from 2015-16. More impressively, Curry has been incredible on defence this season, putting in the extra effort on the other end of the floor, averaging nearly two steals a game.
2. Kevin Durant – Brooklyn Nets
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Kevin Durant currently leads the league in scoring with 28.4 points per game and has carried the Brooklyn Nets to the number one seed in the East with Kyrie Irving still absent and James Harden still finding his feet after the rule change. Durant is shooting nearly 53% from the field and 37% from downtown this season and was named as NBA’s player of the month for October and November.
3. Giannis Antetokounmpo – Milwaukee Bucks
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Giannis Antetokounmpo has carried on from where he left off in the 2021 NBA playoffs, averaging an impressive 27 points, 11.6 rebounds and nearly six assists per game this season. While Milwaukee haven’t had a great start to the new season, the Bucks are undefeated 10-0 when all three of Giannis, Holiday and Middleton are on the court.
4. Nikola Jokic – Denver Nuggets
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The reigning league MVP Nikola Jokic has looked even better to start the new season, with the Serbian thriving despite missing key teammates such as Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. Jokic has shown significant improvement on defence this season, while continuing to put up his ridiculous numbers on offence, averaging over 25 points a game with an effective field goal percentage of 62%.
5. DeMar DeRozan – Chicago Bulls
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At age 32, DeMar DeRozan is having a career year in his first season with the Chicago Bulls, averaging 26 points and five rebounds a game. More impressively, DeRozan is showing significant improvement in terms of his efficiency, shooting a career-high 52% on two-pointers and a steady 33% from deep. DeRozan (425) also surpassed Michael Jordan (424) to score the most points in franchise history in their first 16 games and has taken the Bulls to the 2nd seed in the East with a record of 17-9.
[Featured Image Credit: Golden State Warriors]
Shivaan Shah