NBA MVP Discussion Thread 2023-24 (Part 4: MVP Thread's Revenge)

[Mavrelous]

All this talk of “OKC with the better record” has been silly because it’s never been more than 1-2 games more and they are tied right now. Standings can have an impact but when teams are so close that they flip flop every other day, it’s sort of useless to use in a guys favor.

OKC exceeded expectations, significantly, went from lottery to top seed in an instant, and SGA in THE guy there.
This is a very close 2 man race, and will stay like this till the end.

[Jaqua92]

All this talk of “OKC with the better record” has been silly because it’s never been more than 1-2 games more and they are tied right now. Standings can have an impact but when teams are so close that they flip flop every other day, it’s sort of useless to use in a guys favor.

OKC exceeded expectations, significantly, went from lottery to top seed in an instant, and SGA in THE guy there.
This is a very close 2 man race, and will stay like this till the end.

According to betting, it isnt very close right now.

[Mavrelous]

All this talk of “OKC with the better record” has been silly because it’s never been more than 1-2 games more and they are tied right now. Standings can have an impact but when teams are so close that they flip flop every other day, it’s sort of useless to use in a guys favor.

OKC exceeded expectations, significantly, went from lottery to top seed in an instant, and SGA in THE guy there.
This is a very close 2 man race, and will stay like this till the end.

According to betting, it isnt very close right now.

Maybe guilt over last year's debacle?
If Jokic wins, it's well deserved, he's the best player in the league, a tier by himself, but SGA is having historic season, massive turnaround in team record, while having MVP level impact stat wise, I wouldn't call it unfair if he wins it.

[Special_Puppy]

All this talk of “OKC with the better record” has been silly because it’s never been more than 1-2 games more and they are tied right now. Standings can have an impact but when teams are so close that they flip flop every other day, it’s sort of useless to use in a guys favor.

OKC exceeded expectations, significantly, went from lottery to top seed in an instant, and SGA in THE guy there.
This is a very close 2 man race, and will stay like this till the end.

According to betting, it isnt very close right now.

Jokic's implied odds in the betting markets is ~60% where as SGA's implied odds are ~30%. That's very close.

[FinnTheHuman]

I love SGA. He's like a guard version of Jokic in terms of consistent impact. Rarely has an off game, rarely has a monster game, it's just consistent greatness that leads to consistent wins. His teammates must love playing with a guy who always does his part, while not standing in the way of them getting theirs. With other superstars on contenders, it's not the case, their impact fluctuates a lot more than Jokic and SGA.

[Woodsanity]

Gap between Jokic and SGA just widened.

Okc lost to the Lakers. The same team Jokic went into the other night with all the spotlight of Lebrons 40K and pulled out a win.

The day-to-day commentary is really tiring. SGA's team lost on a back-to-back road game (with SGA not even playing poorly). So what? Jokic has lost games before. Jokic has played poorly before. Just look at the last three games before the All-Star break for a reminder.

This commentary has nothing to do with a credible analysis of the MVP race and is all about reinforcing pre-existing opinions, looking for anything to prop up one's position no matter the validity or consistency of the argument. I wish the conversation was better than this but I can't say it's a surprise.

All I'm going to say is that no, of course this one random early March game is not going to have a tangible effect on the MVP race. It shouldn't have to be stated yet here we are.

When the race is this close every misstep makes a big difference.

Nuggets are on a 6 game winning streak.

Thunder recently loss to the Spurs and now to the Lakers.

This isn't a knock against SGA who is the only other guy truly in the race right now.

Same thing happened before the all star break when Nuggets were losing. SGA caught up now its reversing again.

[Chanel Bomber]

There will be a campaign to vote for an American player down the stretch of the season.

Perkins and SAS - who regardless of what you might think of them are voices that matter - have already expressed that their vote currently would go to Tatum.

There is a campaign by some usual suspects to deny Jokic another MVP. It's a thing. It was very effective last year.

[Duke4life831]

I think right now Jokic is sitting pretty in the top spot. I mean the dude is who he is, he's just a human cheat code for the past 3-4 seasons.

I would then have SGA 2nd. Crazy impact stats and fantastic team record as well.

Then Tatum would be 3rd for me. Luka has crazy stats but his team is 8th in the standings. To be a legit MVP threat when youre that far down in the standings, you have to be having some freakish individual season while no one else is having a legit MVP season. So Tatum is 3rd for me, 27/8/5 with good defense and a TS% that is +3% over league average. And doing this on the best team in the league with a wide margin in team record.

[zero rings]

There will be a campaign to vote for an American player down the stretch of the season.

Perkins and SAS - who regardless of what you might think of them are voices that matter - have already expressed that their vote currently would go to Tatum.

There is a campaign by some usual suspects to deny Jokic another MVP. It's a thing. It was very effective last year.

Perkins and SAS will vote for anyone but Jokic, no doubt. But unless they’re voting for SGA it won’t change the outcome of the race.

Last year they were able to pressure would-be Jokic voters with the accusation of racism. If Jokic had won his 3rd MVP and the Nuggets failed to win a championship, these two would have been on national TV calling everyone who voted for him a racist. That stunt won’t work this time around.

[Exp0sed]

There will be a campaign to vote for an American player down the stretch of the season.

Perkins and SAS - who regardless of what you might think of them are voices that matter - have already expressed that their vote currently would go to Tatum.

There is a campaign by some usual suspects to deny Jokic another MVP. It's a thing. It was very effective last year.

Perkins and SAS will vote for anyone but Jokic, no doubt. But unless they’re voting for SGA it won’t change the outcome of the race.

Last year they were able to pressure would-be Jokic voters with the accusation of racism. If Jokic had won his 3rd MVP and the Nuggets failed to win a championship, these two would have been on national TV calling everyone who voted for him a racist. That stunt won’t work this time around.

I agree, the anti Jokic crowd will split their votes between SGA, Tatum and even Giannis, still some season left to play but if they voted today, i'm guessing Jokic would win comfortably

[Jamaaliver]

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[LeBronSpaghetti]

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Wow that is a stark contrast

[TinmanZBoy]

SGA all the way

[The-Power]

When the race is this close every misstep makes a big difference.

So now the gap is closed again, I assume?

[Exp0sed]

When the race is this close every misstep makes a big difference.

So now the gap is closed again, I assume?

the gap def got smaller, for sure. that's how narratives work..
Nuggets kicked the bucket, they could have ascended to the top of the West but lost embrassingly at home with Jokic having a subpar game (by his standards) on live TV. ofc it matters for the race...

on a unrelated not I wrote in the past that I think this Suns team would be a nightmare in the playoffs for the Nuggets, they would be wise to avoid that matchup if possible

[The-Power]

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2. Jayson Tatum: +11.9

Just for those interested in the actual numbers that were promised but not delivered for all players.

[HadAnEffectHere]

The Luka MVP discussion from 10 days ago looks very funny now.

[Exp0sed]

The Luka MVP discussion from 10 days ago looks very funny now.

not really, it was always contingent on Dallas getting at least a top 4 seed
after their trades they were hot,for a min there might have looked like they have a chance to go on a run post ASB

obviously that hasn't happend

[Special_Puppy]

Jokic legit looked drunk yesterday lol. Pretty terrible loss.

[Jamaaliver]

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