NBA MVP Discussion Thread 2023-24 (continued)

[AleksandarN]

**** embarrasing.


Haliburton had 18 assists in 25 minutes. Considering his backup McConnell had 10 on his own, he probably would've sniffed at Scott Skiles' record if he was allowed to play in the 4th, considering the Pacers were making pretty much everything.

But no, they emptied the bench which is what you always do in a blowout, records and stats be damned.

They still had 50 assists as a team pretty crazy

[AleksandarN]

Even I gotta admit that was clear stat padding from Embiid. Should have sat out in the 3rd when the lead ballooned especially after he hurt his ankle/knee. Now he might miss tomorrows back to back...

These are the things he needs to start getting over. I'm all for him winning MVP, but not like this.. Especially when the ultimate prize should be the goal.

Also as Kurtz said pretty crazy that all 3 MVP front runners lost today, so no ground gained haha. Silver lining I suppose.

Still a bad look for Embiid.

I agree but jokic is starting to gain ground. MVP is not over yet.

[ChartFiction]

Denvers looked a lot better since Murray has gotten back.

I think OKC and Denver ends up leaping Minnesota for 1st and 2nd seed. Jokic gets back into the conversation with that.

[Cubbies2120]

I'm the first to jump on Embiid for things, but I'm not "offended" by him sticking it out through the 4th and whether or not it was "stat padding" is inconsequential. For all intents and purposes, he might have used those additional minutes to continue building his conditioning as I'm sure heavy set big men (him & Jokic) probably have a harder time staying in shape than the limber and lanky ones.

EDIT: Assuming his ankle is healthy and not (much) further compromised by being out there.

And to add a "pot shot" as is customary : Yeah, sure he might have gotten another 30/10 game for like the 800th time this season, but can we acknowledge Jokic is shooting 52/63 from the field, 4/5 from the 3 in his last 5 games? And he's 65-72 from the line since Dec 11? That efficiency is mind boggling.

[CobraCommander]

Yes, I too think Jokic is the best basketball player on earth. That doesn't change what I'm saying.

With Brunson he made a conference finals so that's kinda a moot point. And Kyrie has been injured half the season. Lively is missing a bunch of games too. And Lively's a rookie. Dante Exum has been the next best player. Guess what, he's injured too! The supporting cast is pretty much non-existent beyond those players. Luka does not have an acceptable supporting cast for him to be contending.

All Of that is true- but you can’t give Luka all the credit and none of the blame for being in 7th. At some point - the guys at the tip top are the reason why you win or lose in the minds of the MVP voters.

Luka one of the 5-10 best players on earth - and if all things equal- the 3 better players than Luka with better records than Luka - Giannis, jokic and Embiid - will always beat him in mvp IF stats are close.

It also hurts Luka’s chances when SGA is playing as well or better on some nights and they are both young guns -

lol, year after year, you have been using Trae, Booker, Tatum, and now the imaginary 5-10 to compare Luka to. There are no three players better than Luka, but there are three comparable players on better teams.

Shouldn’t we compare players year over year?

Example - Lebron used to be the best- but isn’t now.

Luka is somewhere between 4-10 depending on the night. There are only 3 guys definitely better than him.

But there are days and games when SGA, TAtum, fox, AD, Mitchell, Tray, Booker, KD, Ja, Zion, etc have been better than Luka- even PG and a healthy Kawhi are better on nights

A lot of you Luka supporters don’t accept any criticism of Luka - even Eyetoma accepts SOME criticism of his lord and savior- Embiid.:: lol

Let me give Luka love where it is deserved this year- HIS focus on man up defense for stretches ON good players has been amazing: with his offense that rarely waivers- if he can just give the effort on D he did against the Suns on Christmas - or should I say HIS SON - baby book- it’s not gonna be fair -

I think we should hold the best to the highest standard and look for all the flaws cause they are already a level above… now we looking for flaws in a diamond-
Still a diamond

[Whateva]

1. Giannis
2. Jokic
3. Embiid

[CobraCommander]

Should these guys stat pad considering at the end of the day we all know the voters not watching all the games- and every point, rebound etc counts?

The stat about how many more stats in less minutes for Embiid is telling compared to the field

[nikster]

All Of that is true- but you can’t give Luka all the credit and none of the blame for being in 7th. At some point - the guys at the tip top are the reason why you win or lose in the minds of the MVP voters.

Luka one of the 5-10 best players on earth - and if all things equal- the 3 better players than Luka with better records than Luka - Giannis, jokic and Embiid - will always beat him in mvp IF stats are close.

It also hurts Luka’s chances when SGA is playing as well or better on some nights and they are both young guns -

lol, year after year, you have been using Trae, Booker, Tatum, and now the imaginary 5-10 to compare Luka to. There are no three players better than Luka, but there are three comparable players on better teams.

Shouldn’t we compare players year over year?

Example - Lebron used to be the best- but isn’t now.

Luka is somewhere between 4-10 depending on the night. There are only 3 guys definitely better than him.

But there are days and games when SGA, TAtum, fox, AD, Mitchell, Tray, Booker, KD, Ja, Zion, etc have been better than Luka- even PG and a healthy Kawhi are better on nights

A lot of you Luka supporters don’t accept any criticism of Luka - even Eyetoma accepts SOME criticism of his lord and savior- Embiid.:: lol

Let me give Luka love where it is deserved this year- HIS focus on man up defense for stretches ON good players has been amazing: with his offense that rarely waivers- if he can just give the effort on D he did against the Suns on Christmas - or should I say HIS SON - baby book- it’s not gonna be fair -

I think we should hold the best to the highest standard and look for all the flaws cause they are already a level above… now we looking for flaws in a diamond-
Still a diamond

It only makes sense to change them year after year if something changes about their game. LeBron is on a clear decline due to age and loss of athleticism. SGA is a young guy who is improving

Tatum, Booker etc... are in their primes and have been the same players they were the last year. So whats the argument for ranking them over Luka in previous years but not this year?

What's the point of saying some players are better night to night? That's no way of ranking players.

[CobraCommander]

lol, year after year, you have been using Trae, Booker, Tatum, and now the imaginary 5-10 to compare Luka to. There are no three players better than Luka, but there are three comparable players on better teams.

Shouldn’t we compare players year over year?

Example - Lebron used to be the best- but isn’t now.

Luka is somewhere between 4-10 depending on the night. There are only 3 guys definitely better than him.

But there are days and games when SGA, TAtum, fox, AD, Mitchell, Tray, Booker, KD, Ja, Zion, etc have been better than Luka- even PG and a healthy Kawhi are better on nights

A lot of you Luka supporters don’t accept any criticism of Luka - even Eyetoma accepts SOME criticism of his lord and savior- Embiid.:: lol

Let me give Luka love where it is deserved this year- HIS focus on man up defense for stretches ON good players has been amazing: with his offense that rarely waivers- if he can just give the effort on D he did against the Suns on Christmas - or should I say HIS SON - baby book- it’s not gonna be fair -

I think we should hold the best to the highest standard and look for all the flaws cause they are already a level above… now we looking for flaws in a diamond-
Still a diamond

It only makes sense to change them year after year if something changes about their game. LeBron is on a clear decline due to age and loss of athleticism. SGA is a young guy who is improving

Tatum, Booker etc... are in their primes and have been the same players they were the last year. So whats the argument for ranking them over Luka in previous years but not this year?

What's the point of saying some players are better night to night? That's no way of ranking players.

I personally think Luka is 4th or 5th with him and SGA swapping spots damn near game after game.

KDs efficiency should have him at 6th but he seems to be the most unispiring basketball genius the world has ever seen so I got Tatum reluctantly at 6th

Fox at 7th

Trae quietly at 8th

Halibuton at 9th

Brunson at 10th

And Jokic at 1!

Lebron at 11

Kawhi at 12

My honest thoughts is the race is between 2 and 3 and 4 and 5… jokic is the only one solidified in my thinking

[scrabbarista]

Embiid not looking so good against a non bottom feeder without ref help. Go knicks.

Not true look at his consecutive 30pt streak. He scored 30pts.

Bro was playing fourth quarter in a blowout to chase the stats, I thought he was injured! Instead of getting extra rest he was chasing stats.

Most Valuable stat-Padder

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

[dygaction]

All Of that is true- but you can’t give Luka all the credit and none of the blame for being in 7th. At some point - the guys at the tip top are the reason why you win or lose in the minds of the MVP voters.

Luka one of the 5-10 best players on earth - and if all things equal- the 3 better players than Luka with better records than Luka - Giannis, jokic and Embiid - will always beat him in mvp IF stats are close.

It also hurts Luka’s chances when SGA is playing as well or better on some nights and they are both young guns -

lol, year after year, you have been using Trae, Booker, Tatum, and now the imaginary 5-10 to compare Luka to. There are no three players better than Luka, but there are three comparable players on better teams.

Shouldn’t we compare players year over year?

Example - Lebron used to be the best- but isn’t now.

Luka is somewhere between 4-10 depending on the night. There are only 3 guys definitely better than him.

But there are days and games when SGA, TAtum, fox, AD, Mitchell, Tray, Booker, KD, Ja, Zion, etc have been better than Luka- even PG and a healthy Kawhi are better on nights

A lot of you Luka supporters don’t accept any criticism of Luka - even Eyetoma accepts SOME criticism of his lord and savior- Embiid.:: lol

Let me give Luka love where it is deserved this year- HIS focus on man up defense for stretches ON good players has been amazing: with his offense that rarely waivers- if he can just give the effort on D he did against the Suns on Christmas - or should I say HIS SON - baby book- it’s not gonna be fair -

I think we should hold the best to the highest standard and look for all the flaws cause they are already a level above… now we looking for flaws in a diamond-
Still a diamond

However you want to compare, a player entering his prime with already 4 consecutive first team all nba is a proven top 5 player. By next summer, Luka will have more 1st team collections than KG, CP3, Dirk, DRob, or Curry. He needs team success and longevity to pass some of the players, and you can even argue he is playing in a weak era to make the 1st team, but pretending he is not a current top 5 player is disingenuous. And no, if you want to use a night by night basis, nobody can claim better than Luka for sure, he just over scored KD and Booker combined last time they met.

[bigboi]

Embiid
Giannis
Jokic
SGA

In that order. Joker is on a run tho. Good to see the race changes on a weekly. Just last week, y’all were saying SGA is number 1.

Person with best record prob wins tbh

[Special_Puppy]

Embiid
Giannis
Jokic
SGA

In that order. Joker is on a run tho. Good to see the race changes on a weekly. Just last week, y’all were saying SGA is number 1.

Person with best record prob wins tbh

Good chance that the Thunder+76ers+Nuggets+Bucks are all clustered around 53-56 wins by the end of the season

[dygaction]

Embiid
Giannis
Jokic
SGA

In that order. Joker is on a run tho. Good to see the race changes on a weekly. Just last week, y’all were saying SGA is number 1.

Person with best record prob wins tbh

how can Giannis climbing up with two losses in a row to Pacers after grabbing the ball last time they met?

[losmi]

Embiid
Giannis
Jokic
SGA

In that order. Joker is on a run tho. Good to see the race changes on a weekly. Just last week, y’all were saying SGA is number 1.

Person with best record prob wins tbh

how can Giannis climbing up with two losses in a row to Pacers after grabbing the ball last time they met?

Because he wanted to say Embiid was 1st, and just randomly typed out the others.

Realistically, Embiid, Jokic and SGA are close, with Embiid's stats being unsustainable because he's had an extremely easy personal schedule so far. Plus, after last year's embarrassment, he'd have to be way above anyone else, which is not going to happen. Worse seed, worse stats and worse everything won't do the work this year, despite the PR.

[yannisk]

Was just checking the mvp frontrunners regarding TS%

Embiid 64.5
Jokic 64.1
Shai 64.3
Giannis 65

very tight range

[CobraCommander]

lol, year after year, you have been using Trae, Booker, Tatum, and now the imaginary 5-10 to compare Luka to. There are no three players better than Luka, but there are three comparable players on better teams.

Shouldn’t we compare players year over year?

Example - Lebron used to be the best- but isn’t now.

Luka is somewhere between 4-10 depending on the night. There are only 3 guys definitely better than him.

But there are days and games when SGA, TAtum, fox, AD, Mitchell, Tray, Booker, KD, Ja, Zion, etc have been better than Luka- even PG and a healthy Kawhi are better on nights

A lot of you Luka supporters don’t accept any criticism of Luka - even Eyetoma accepts SOME criticism of his lord and savior- Embiid.:: lol

Let me give Luka love where it is deserved this year- HIS focus on man up defense for stretches ON good players has been amazing: with his offense that rarely waivers- if he can just give the effort on D he did against the Suns on Christmas - or should I say HIS SON - baby book- it’s not gonna be fair -

I think we should hold the best to the highest standard and look for all the flaws cause they are already a level above… now we looking for flaws in a diamond-
Still a diamond

However you want to compare, a player entering his prime with already 4 consecutive first team all nba is a proven top 5 player. By next summer, Luka will have more 1st team collections than KG, CP3, Dirk, DRob, or Curry. He needs team success and longevity to pass some of the players, and you can even argue he is playing in a weak era to make the 1st team, but pretending he is not a current top 5 player is disingenuous. And no, if you want to use a night by night basis, nobody can claim better than Luka for sure, he just over scored KD and Booker combined last time they met.

Objectly all nba first teams are not deciding factors for guys like KG, Dirk, Curry or Robinson… those are the weirdest opinion polls and honestly in the grand scheme mean little- considering the best guy on planet earth wasn’t 1st team last year - so naw not worried about that opinion poll.

I’m saying Luka is either 4 or 5 but not 1through 3

What else you want bro lol.

And btw -by the same Opinion polls - SGA was better than Luka last year (ahead of him in mvp and i think first team) so it’s not insane to say Luka is 5…behind the big 3 and SGA

[losmi]

Read on Twitter

After stat padding in a blowout loss. Pathetic.

I get Embiid's fans, but how can any 76ers fan support this? It's so obvious that this guy cares only about his personal records and accolades.

[eyeatoma]

I don't support this, terrible look for him and the organisation. The goal should be a chip... If an MVP comes in the process great, but that is not the goal...