2022-23 NBA MVP Discussion (Pt.1)

[Jadoogar]

How far up the standings do the Warriors got to finish before Curry has a legitimate chance.

I mean you have to be in the playoffs as a minimum. And nothing unreasonable or biased against Steph about that despite the claims that will be made.

We're 3.5 games away from 1st place in the west ... using standings this early seems pointless.

Exactly. They are 8-10, not great obviously but 2 games behind the Mavs. It's too early to use standings as a negative (unless you have a Lakers' esque record) is meaningless at this point in the season.

[greekbuck34]

They can't win on the road. They needed 41 from Klay and Curry clutch shots to beat the worst team in the league the other day.

[Ron Swanson]

I mean sure, but if standings are pointless this early in the season (which they are), then most of these all-encompassing metrics and stats are as well. Giannis was the runaway guy the first 7-8 games, but then has a 5-6 game stretch that cause his efficiency, RAPTOR, EPM, and on/off to crater despite him still putting up 30/11/5 on a 12-4 basketball team playing without their 2nd best player (Middleton) for the entire season thus far. Historically, it takes a good 20-30 games before these numbers start to normalize.

[shoresy69]

90.8% of his 2 pt makes have been unassisted - that's second among starters with Suggs being first obviously at a much lower volume

All of the stats you posted are impressive, and I don't want to get it twisted Luka is amazing (just like prime Harden was). But how the hell are Luka's shots going to end up being assisted when the man has the ball in his hands for 10+ minutes per game.

I know a lot of this is dictated by the type of players around him, but his playstyle directly leads to high amounts of unassisted shot attempts for himself or him assisting shots for his teammates. Because he always has the ball in his hands.

in summation it's not his playstyle that leads to these numbers (although it's obviously a bit inflated because of it- that's kind of marginal) - it's his talent and skills that lead to him being in this role in the first place (very few players can do what he has done thus far in his career and all of them are all time greats )

he's damn good at it this season especially thus far and i mean - incredibly good

I didn't mean to downplay what he's doing quite that much - he's obviously a top 5 player currently and on pace to be a top 20 player ever and probably higher. My main point is that even compared to other backcourt players who are in the discussion for All-NBA he has the ball in his hands a disproportionate amount. What he's doing is very impressive, I just think the amount of time the ball is in his possession has to be taken into account at least a little bit when comparing to his peers.

[shoresy69]

Zach Lowe and Kevin Pelton have the same top 3 at this point in the season:

1. Steph Curry
2. Luka Doncic
3. Jayson Tatum

[Jamaaliver]

It's a shame this kid is languishing in basketball purgatory yet again. This is the flaw in perpetual tanking -- the player is ready to contend, but the franchise isn't.

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[Noctilux]

Shouldn’t AD be on this list?

[NoStatsGuy]

season is very young. lots of stuff will happen. So far im going with Luka

[Cubbies2120]

Shouldn’t AD be on this list?

I think when they're not the 26th best team in the NBA, maybe top 15, he'll be on that list.

[Jamaaliver]

Looking forward to this one.

Read on Twitter

[OriginalRed]

Shouldn’t AD be on this list?

He's certainly played like an MVP candidate but your team is nowhere near good enough standing wise for him to be in consideration.

[3toheadmelo]

Tatum the leading candidate of MVP for me

[playa-hater]

If anyone is being totally honest and watches the videos you can see Luka is a great 1 on 1 player 1 of the best but he is so bad on defense there are just way too many video clips of him being horrible .. even when his team helps him..bottom 3 worst defenders in the NBA..Tatum is an absolute elite 2 way player..locks up on anyone at any position when needed..great help defender as well..

[JWillTheFreak]

Who locked up luka??? For being elite they sure let luka go off for 42 on 60 percent... Boston just played better and the mavs didnt show up today...

[Archx]

If anyone is being totally honest and watches the videos you can see Luka is a great 1 on 1 player 1 of the best but he is so bad on defense there are just way too many video clips of him being horrible .. even when his team helps him..bottom 3 worst defenders in the NBA..Tatum is an absolute elite 2 way player..locks up on anyone at any position when needed..great help defender as well..

This was the same BS that was thrown at Jokic last year and before when he had to hard carry offense. Re-watch the game and tell me which Mavs player showed anything on defense apart from DFS who had few nice stops late. If you watched all Mavs games this year, you wouldn't say this.

Compared to Tatum, sure whatever... but on that Mavs team, his defense is the last of their problems.

[agentofatlas]

Who locked up luka??? For being elite they sure let luka go off for 42 on 60 percent... Boston just played better and the mavs didnt show up today...

The wing combo of Reggie Bullock and THJ locked up the Mavs.

[JWillTheFreak]

Who locked up luka??? For being elite they sure let luka go off for 42 on 60 percent... Boston just played better and the mavs didnt show up today...

The wing combo of Reggie Bullock and THJ locked up the Mavs.

That's nothing new Bullock been pure trash all season yet he still gets almost 30 minutes a game.

[agentofatlas]

Maybe Jokic is the true MVP after all lol.

[PierceFan4ever]

JT leading the pack…through 18-19 games so far lol. Still cool to see just how much better he keeps getting each season

[yoyoboy]

1. Curry
2. Tatum
3. Doncic
4. Jokic
5. Mitchell
6. Giannis
7. SGA
8. Booker
9. Davis
10. Durant