With no clear-cut co-star, plenty of people think Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo could be next season's NBA MVP winner. Among those featured is Blake Griffin, the former All-Star who had plenty of duels with the Greek Freak during his playing days. Here is what he had to say on an episode of "Post Moves with Candace Parker & Aliyah Boston" when asked about his 2025-26 MVP pick.
“I’m going to go with Giannis… He’s going to be playing close to 40 minutes a night, averaging whatever ungodly numbers he does."
The Greek Freak is always in the conversation for the award, but could this be the year he takes it home for the first time since his back-to-back effort from 2018-19 and 2019-2020? The stars are aligning for it to come to fruition, even if the general NBA landscape isn't giving the Milwaukee Bucks much of a chance at all to make some noise next season.
The path for Giannis to win MVP for the third time is there
Everyone is pouring doubt on the Milwaukee Bucks this season. They don't think Giannis can lead this team to anything "by himself." Sure, while the Bucks don't have a clear-cut second option on the team like Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday, or Khris Middleton, they still have the pieces to compete. If they were to reach 50 wins, Giannis should be penciled in as MVP, with that logic.
As Griffin said, Giannis will get his numbers. He always does. However, his numbers this season might be even crazier than any other year, and it all has to do with his role. He's always had a prominent role in dictating the offense, but he's likely taking on more responsibility this year than any other year in his career, especially as a playmaker. Career-high numbers could fuel his third MVP campaign.
Blake Griffin got a first-hand look at what Giannis Antetokounmpo is capable of plenty of times during his All-Star worthy NBA career.
During Giannis' first MVP campaign in 2018-19, Milwaukee met with Griffin's Pistons in the first round of the playoffs. In a four-game sweep of Detroit, Giannis averaged 26.3 points, 12 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per contest. A few years later, when he was with the Nets, Griffin was involved in the tense seven-game series with the Bucks, where Milwaukee crept by Brooklyn in Game 7.
Him picking Giannis Antetokounmpo as his way-too-early MVP selection is a show of respect in an offseason that has been full of disrespect.
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