We are over a month into the new NBA season and the race for the league MVP is heating up. Despite the late start to the league, lack of crowds and a shortened pre-season, the stars of the league are still putting up box office performances. There has been very little load management and the top teams and players are going full throttle towards adding another NBA title. The NBA Most Valuable Player award is handed to the best player in the league over the regular season and is voted by a panel of writers and broadcasters. With Giannis Antetokounmpo winning back-to-back titles in the last 2 years, we are likely to have a new winner this year. Here are our top 5 candidates so far for the coveted award (there are a few names we know very very well):
5) Stephen Curry
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Before the start of the season, the NBA community was doubting whether Steph Curry still had what it took to be a star in the NBA. Curry barely played 5 games last season and will be without his sparring partner Klay Thompson for the entirety of this campaign. Needless to say, Curry answered his critics in the best way possible, by showing up on the court. The 3-time NBA champion currently leads the league in scoring and is averaging an incredible 28.4 points per game to go with 6 assists and 5.5 boards per night. Curry has almost singlehandedly dragged the Golden State Warriors to a record of 10-9 so far this season and if they are to reach the play-offs, it will singlehandedly be down to the genius of Curry.
4) Lebron James
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King James had only 71 days off between winning the NBA finals in the Orlando bubble and the start of this season but has still started all 18 games for the LA Lakers so far this season. Lebron is chasing his 5th NBA MVP crown and 5th NBA Title which would put him only one behind Michael Jordan in terms of Championships. Thanks to Lebron’s explosive start this season, the Lakers already have the best record in the league with 14-4 and currently sit on top of the Western Conference. It’s unfathomable to think that Lebron is doing this in year 18 of his career, and the crazy part is, that he is still getting better.
3) Joel Embiid
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The Philadelphia 76ers have the best record in the Eastern Conference this season and a lot of that has to do with Joel Embiid, who has elevated his game to new heights this season. Embiid is averaging a career-high 27.7 points per game while also averaging 11.5 rebounds, 1.4 blocks and 1.3 steals per game. What stands out about Embiid this season is his improved efficiency. He ranks highest in the league for PER (a statistical tool that in simple terms sums up their positive accomplishments, subtracts the negative accomplishments and returns a per-minute rating) with 31.2, and has also improved his shooting percentages from the field and 3-point range.
2) Kevin Durant
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It’s scary to think how good Kevin Durant has been this season considering he hadn’t played a professional game in 18 months having ruptured his Achilles in the 2019 NBA finals. Durant has started his season like a man on a mission and is averaging 30 points, 7.6 rebounds and 5.8 assists a game with 52% shooting from the field and 44% from downtown. The 2013-14 MVP has now teamed up with Kyrie Irving and former OKC team-mate James Harden to form a new Big 3 in Brooklyn. With Durant in this kind of mood, the Nets are one of the favourites to make it out of the Eastern Conference and even win it all this season.
1) Nikola Jokic
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Nikola Jokic has built on his stunning Western Conference Finals run last season and has been the best offensive player in the league this season. He is averaging 25 points per game while shooting 56% from the field and 34% from beyond the arc. Jokic is also one of the top playmakers in the league and is averaging nearly 10 assists a game. When it comes to the MVP award, the narrative plays a big part in who eventually wins. In Jokic’s case, he is changing the way we view how a Center plays in the NBA, just as Curry changed the game in the early 2010s. Jokic is essentially playing point centre for the Denver Nuggets and is arguably the most skilled big man the NBA has ever seen in its history.
[Image Credit: NBA]
Shivaan Shah