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Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers believes Giannis Antetokounmpo is a victim of voter fatigue when it comes to deciding the MVP award.
“I don’t even want to get into it, but there are some guys that we’re tired of voting for,” Rivers said. told reporters Friday. “Michael [Jordan] perhaps he is the model child. And Giannis seems to be in that category; where you are so good, everything you do is taken for granted. When you look at his numbers, they are incredible, and yet you never hear his name. It’s unbelievable, but in some ways it’s more of a sign of respect than disrespect.”
There’s probably an argument to be made that Jordan should have won the MVP every year of his heyday with the Chicago Bulls, although it’s also worth noting that he won the award five times, tied with Bill Russell for second all-time behind. only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (six).
As for whether Antetokounmpo’s name is rarely heard in MVP discussions, that’s pretty debatable. He currently occupies third place in the NBA.com MVP Scale behind Nikola Jokić and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, won back-to-back in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons and finished third in the voting the last two seasons.
Since he first won the award in 2018-19, the MVP conversation has been largely dominated by Antetokounmpo, Jokić and Joel Embiid, all three making extremely strong cases. This year seems more open than it has in some time, with players like Jayson Tatum and Luka Dončić also in contention. And if Embiid were not injured and eligible to play in the games required to qualify for the award, he would certainly be in the conversation as well.
Here’s a rudimentary summary of the top five MVP contenders:
- Jokic: 25.8 PPG (14th), 12.3 RPG (fourth), 9.3 APG (fourth), 31.42 assessment of player efficiency (second), the Denver Nuggets are third in the West (41-19).
- Gilgeous-Alexander: 31.2 PPG (second), 6.5 APG (14th), 30.71 PER (third), Oklahoma City Thunder is second in the West (41-18).
- Antetokounmpo: 30.8 PPG (third), 11.3 RPG (sixth), 6.3 APG (tied 16th), 30.22 PER (fourth), the Bucks are third in the East (40-21).
- Tatum: 27.1 PPG (ninth), 8.5 RPG (tied 23rd), 4.8 APG (tied 45th), 22.43 PER (18th), Boston Celtics have a better NBA record 47-12.
- Doncic: 34.5 PPG (first), 8.9 RPG (19th), 9.7 APG (third), 28.98 PER (fifth), the Dallas Mavericks are eighth in the West (34-26).
Is there a player in this group who clearly stands out from the rest? These are all very strong arguments, for a variety of reasons.
Giannis will be one of the main contenders provided he maintains his current level of play. But if he doesn’t win, it will likely have more to do with a field of incredibly deserving candidates than with voter fatigue.
