Giannis Antetokounmpo is in the news for being not-too-long of a shot to win MVP. Could the Milwaukee Bucks’ All-Star actually win the award?
If Giannis Antetokounmpo were like Game of Thrones’ Daenerys Targaryen, he could have a whole slew of titles that follow his name each time it’s mentioned. Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Greek Freak, All-Star starter, All-NBA second teamer, All-Defensive second teamer, Most Improved Player, first of his name (in the NBA) and leader of house Bucks.
So far, though, the most coveted NBA award has escaped the Milwaukee Bucks’ brightest young star. MVP is the highest individual honor an NBA player can receive, and one that Giannis obviously wants and has thought about. Why is it obvious? He’s said as much.
Giannis is not the only one who has thought about himself winning MVP before. Kevin Durant, himself a former MVP for his efforts in the 2013-14 NBA campaign, took to YouTube, the bizarre place he’s been sharing his thoughts lately, to say “it’s guaranteed that he will be an MVP.”
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Exciting stuff! But talk is one thing — Giannis Antetokounmpo actually winning the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award is another. Is it really possible for Giannis to be your 2017-18 NBA MVP?
Well, actually, yes. He would need to be even better than he was last season, but so far in his career that’s been no big deal for Giannis, who has shown vast improvement in each of his four NBA seasons thus far.
It also requires external factors that he doesn’t have as much control over. The most critical, outside of Giannis himself, is the Bucks being a very good team. Historically, MVPs have come from elite teams near the top of their conferences.
Interestingly, last season’s MVP bucked that trend, pun somewhat intended. Russell Westbrook was unbelievable, averaging a triple-double for the season and recording more than 40 triple-doubles in the process, but his Oklahoma City Thunder weren’t actually all that good.
The Thunder entered the postseason as the sixth seed in the Western Conference, and predictably lost in the first round to the Houston Rockets, although postseason performance doesn’t actually matter for this award’s purposes.
Still, the point remains that Oklahoma City was not a top team, and MVP voters knew as they cast ballots that Westbrook’s team likely wasn’t seeing the second round. Still, he won MVP for his standout individual effort.
With the Eastern Conference suddenly opening up, it seems beyond certain that Milwaukee will hold at least the sixth seed in the East this season. Since that conference is weaker, the Bucks would have to be better to not hurt Giannis’ case, considering OKC needed 47 wins for that sixth seed. That wouldn’t be easy for the Bucks, but it isn’t impossible.
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Especially since it’ll all hinge on just how good Antetokounmpo can be in the first place. Giannis will need to ascend to a level very few players in the league at any given time can hope to reach, and remain there for the majority of the season, to have any shot at MVP. That kind of effort from him would seemingly guarantee the Bucks a pretty good amount of wins in their conference anyway.
It’s not a sure thing by any means, and it’s not even really likely at this point, but it is possible: NBA writers and fans would not be shocked if Giannis ends up winning MVP this season. He’s 22 years old right now. Just let that sink in.
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Even if Giannis doesn’t take home the award this season, it’s yet another example of how good he really is that he’s already in the conversation as a perennial contender for it at such a young age.