On March 25, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued, the Suns 140-130 Lux Nuggets, after this campaign officially locked the regular season No. 1. This is also the third time in the history of the Suns that they have won the regular season championship after the 92-93 and 04-05 seasons.
With the Suns finishing No. 1 in the regular season, it shouldn't be a big deal if Monty Williams was named best manager, but the Suns players clearly wanted more. For example, Devin Booker, who scored 49 points in this campaign, said in an interview after the game that he felt he deserved to get the MVP.
As soon as Booker made a noise, the Suns' official social media immediately began to build momentum, rewriting the profile of the official social account as Booker, MVP; Mikari Bridges, DPOY (Best Defensive Player); Cameron Johnson, Best Sixth Man; And Monty, Coach of the Year. At the same time, Suns player Wayne Wright also updated social media after the game, writing "Best Defensive Player Bridges, MVP Booker, Best Manager Monty." That's what I said, and I stand by my point. ”
So the question is, with the Suns locked in the No. 1 of the regular season, can Booker be elected MVP? Before answering this question, let's take a look at two of Booker's predecessors, Barkley and Nash, who won the regular season MVP when playing for the Suns.
Barkley was elected regular season MVP in the 92-93 season, and that year, he averaged 25.6 points, 12.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game, leading the Suns to the first place in the regular season with 62 wins and 20 losses, and finally beating Olajuwon and Jordan to MVP.
Nash was twice named the regular season MVP in the 04-05 and 05-06 seasons, including in the 04-05 season, Nash averaged 15.5 points and 11.5 assists per game, leading the Suns to a record of 62 wins and 20 losses, ranking first in the regular season, and finally defeated O'Neal by a slight margin and was elected MVP. In the 05-06 season, Nash averaged 18.8 points and 10.5 assists per game in the case of The Jr.'s season reimbursement and Joe Johnson's departure, still leading the Suns to 54 wins, so he still pushed James, Nowitzki and Kobe Bryant to win the MVP.
Looking at Booker again, he can average 26.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5 assists per game this season, although the positions are different, but in terms of personal data, he is basically in the same file as Barkley and Nash. In terms of team records, the Suns have now won 60 games, they still have 8 games, as long as they can win 3 of them, they can create the best record in team history, which is Booker's biggest advantage.
Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages, and Booker's biggest disadvantage is that his popularity and popularity are too low, and for most of the season, he has not been included in the MVP discussion at all. This can also be seen from Booker's no. 1 regular season result and his failure to be elected an All-Star starter.
From the perspective of competitors, the top 3 popular candidates for the previous MVP are Alphabet Brother, Jokic and Embiid. Among them, alphabet brother has won 2 MVP, Jokic has won 1 MVP, and the two are exactly the past three years to win the award, so although the two perform well, I am afraid that it will cause aesthetic fatigue in the media. So Booker's biggest competitor should be Embiid.
Embiid has averaged 29.8 points, 11.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists this season, significantly better than Booker in terms of personal data. But in terms of team records, the Suns are far ahead of Philadelphia. Both sides can be said to have their own advantages, while Embiid lacks Simmons by the trade deadline, and Booker has just waited for Paul, and the two are basically tied at this point.
Therefore, the most likely to affect the ownership of the MVP trophy in the regular season is the performance of the direct dialogue between the two sides at the end of the season. This is probably the most touching point for Booker's big brother Paul, after all, the reason why he missed the MVP in 2008 was because he was defeated by Kobe Bryant in a direct conversation at the end of the season.
The Suns and Philadelphia happened to have one more meeting at the end of the season, on March 28, the Suns' home stadium. At that time, if Booker can beat Embiid in front of his hometown father and elders, and the Suns are taking the opportunity to continue to build momentum, then he really has a chance to win the MVP trophy.