Milwaukee Bucks superstar Alphabet Brother is once again one of the popular candidates for the regular season MVP, and the two-time regular season MVP and defending Finals MVP winner once again played an MVP-level season, leading the unstable Bucks to fourth place in the East in an injury-ravaged season.
In 43 games so far this season, he has averaged 28.9 points, 11.3 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal and 1.4 blocks per game. While his true shooting percentage dropped slightly to 61.7 percent, more importantly, his persistent free throws have improved significantly, shooting more than 72 percent this season, the highest in nearly four seasons, and even 77.5 percent in January.
Although the performance of the alphabet brother has been very good, but it is not easy to get the honor of the regular season MVP, he will face fierce competition, whether it is from the personal data, team record, or the progress of the season, Xiaobian feels that in addition to the alphabet brother, there are five other players eligible to compete for the MVP award, so who will be the biggest threat to the alphabet brother to win the third MVP of his career?
When talking about the MVP candidate, it's hard not to mention Nets superstar Kevin Durant, who was considered one of the biggest threats to alphabet brothers vying for MVP before he missed the game due to a sprained medial paraligament in his left knee. Durant has averaged more than 29 points, 7.4 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game this season, shooting 62.6% from the field, leading the Nets to the top two in the East in the case of a serious decline in James Harden's state and Irving's long absence, and now without him, the Nets' offense has a huge loophole. Durant won't be able to come back until after the All-Star Game at the earliest, so the low attendance has already disqualified him from competing as regular season MVP, but we still have to pay tribute to the superstar.
5 LeBron James
Looking at James' performance this season, it's hard to imagine him as a 37-year-old veteran who has missed many games this season, but as long as he's on the floor, he's still one of the most dominant players in the league. James has averaged 29.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.1 blocks per game this season, shooting a true shooting percentage of 61.9 percent, the fourth highest true shooting percentage of his career and the best score in the past four seasons, scoring the highest score in his career since he first played for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
James' biggest obstacle to getting into the regular season MVP is that he missed a lot of games and is expected to miss more games because of a knee injury, and his Los Angeles Lakers team is not very good! Conventionally, if a player's team is not in the top three teams in the division, then winning the regular season MVP is a difficult thing to do, considering James's performance this season, it is indeed the Lakers' overall performance downturn that has dragged him back.
4 Ja-Morant
Morant is the funniest and most exciting player of the season, and he's also a major driver for the Memphis Grizzlies' top three in the West this season. Morant has clearly jumped to become a full-fledged superstar in the league, and his stats also support that, with the 22-year-old averaging 26.4 points, six rebounds, 6.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game in 40 games this season.
The numbers are certainly excellent, but they are still inferior to other players competing for MVP, and the main reason why Morant has been able to occupy a place in the MVP rankings is that he led the Grizzlies to shock the entire league, and no one could have imagined that they would become the top three teams in the West. In addition, because Morant's offensive burden is too heavy, this also affects his defense, and when we consider the MVP candidacy, the defense will undoubtedly drag him down.
3 Stephen Curry
Although Curry is going through the worst shooting downturn of his career, he is still an MVP candidate, and his prestige is enough to make people believe that he will definitely get back his super shooting skills package again. The two-time MVP winner has averaged 26 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game this season, shooting 58.6 percent from the field, and the Golden State Warriors are one of the real contenders for the NBA championship in large part because of Curry's presence.
But if Curry can't get out of the slump, then he certainly can't get involved in the regular season MVP award, and in the past 24 games, Curry's three-point shooting rate is only 34%, which is worse than Morant's three-point shooting rate!
2 Joel Embiid
As the deal deadline approaches, the final attribution of the regular season MVP should be produced among three players, one of whom is Joel Embiid, who is also one of the biggest favourites for MVP this season. Embiid has averaged 29.1 points, 10.8 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.4 blocks per game this season, shooting 61.2 percent from the field.
In 27 games since the beginning of December, Embiid has averaged 31.7 points, 11 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1 steal and 1.4 blocks per game, shooting 63% from the field. In those 27 games, Embiid has scored more than 30 points in 19 games, including 5 games with more than 40 points, and 1 game with more than 50 points, he almost single-handedly led the 76ers forward, with his own offense and game-changing defense, making the 76ers the top three teams in the East. Embiid missed the MVP last season due to injury, and now he is at the top of the league again, hoping that the team will not waste his MVP-level season.
1 Nikolai Jokic
Jokic has been on fire this season, even more than last season, and the lack of two of his most important teammates has had a certain impact on him, allowing him to take on more responsibility at both ends, but he may also win the MVP award for it. In 45 games this season, Jokic averaged 25.9 points, 13.8 rebounds, 7.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game, shooting 65.6% from the field, including better shooting percentages, rebounds and steals than last season, averaging less than half a point per game and last season, not to mention that his average playing time per game was one minute less than last season! How good he is at a glance.
In addition, all of Jokic's high-level stats are good, and the victory contribution value, plus or minus value, and player substitution value (VORP) are all the first in the league. His offense is even sharper than last season's, and his defense has improved markedly, and the narrative that his defense is not very good needs to be changed.
In terms of performances in the previous half season, Jokic and Embiid are much more likely to win the MVP this season than Alphabet Brother, but there is still a lot of time this season, and any of the players mentioned above may be the final winner of the MVP competition. Finally, we need to apologize to the Suns double-gun Chris Paul and Devon Booker, who are not at the level of the five players mentioned above and do not pose a real threat to The Alphabet Brother.