NBA MVP Discussion 20/21 (Fresh poll ➥ Vote)

[JayMKE]

More than half this forum will need to be put on suicide watch when Bron wins it. My goodness.

It'll be fun if that happens .... Also imagine if LBJ wins 2 more rings for the rest of his career and ties Jordan with 6 rings....

Barring any injury, he's winning it. He's playing well and team is near the top of the league. I said in another thread that with LeBron, you know he's the reason for all the success. He is the system everywhere he goes. With everyone else its debatable.

Harden and Giannis aren't winning it, you can't reward those guys anymore. One is too limited of a player and the other guy **** over a franchise's season. Jokic is the only legit threat if the Nuggets finish with a similar record to the Lakers. He's "playing better" but everyone knows LeBron is still the best player in the league.

lol @ the back to back MVP being "limited", imagine how limited Giannis would be if he got to play next to Anthony Davis

This is an AWARD for the most valuable player during the 2020-2021 NBA season, not the coming or past playoffs or any other time in history.

narrative voting is nonsensical

[BrooklynDynasty]

Please consider that Brooklyn is two games back from Utah and likely surpasses them for top record by the end of the year. With the sheer volume of games missed by Durant and Irving combined, a dozen games in Houston to start the year shouldn't be used by an agenda driven media to deny Harden his accolades

[Balls Deep]

It'll be fun if that happens .... Also imagine if LBJ wins 2 more rings for the rest of his career and ties Jordan with 6 rings....

Barring any injury, he's winning it. He's playing well and team is near the top of the league. I said in another thread that with LeBron, you know he's the reason for all the success. He is the system everywhere he goes. With everyone else its debatable.

Harden and Giannis aren't winning it, you can't reward those guys anymore. One is too limited of a player and the other guy **** over a franchise's season. Jokic is the only legit threat if the Nuggets finish with a similar record to the Lakers. He's "playing better" but everyone knows LeBron is still the best player in the league.

lol @ the back to back MVP being "limited", imagine how limited Giannis would be if he got to play next to Anthony Davis

This is an AWARD for the most valuable player during the 2020-2021 NBA season, not the coming or past playoffs or any other time in history.

narrative voting is nonsensical

Giannis is useless outside the paint lol. A guy like that should never win 3 MVPs in a row.

[OriginalRed]

More than half this forum will need to be put on suicide watch when Bron wins it. My goodness.

It'll be fun if that happens .... Also imagine if LBJ wins 2 more rings for the rest of his career and ties Jordan with 6 rings....

Barring any injury, he's winning it. He's playing well and team is near the top of the league. I said in another thread that with LeBron, you know he's the reason for all the success. He is the system everywhere he goes. With everyone else its debatable.

Harden and Giannis aren't winning it, you can't reward those guys anymore. One is too limited of a player and the other guy **** over a franchise's season. Jokic is the only legit threat if the Nuggets finish with a similar record to the Lakers. He's "playing better" but everyone knows LeBron is still the best player in the league.

So explain to me how Giannis has won the last two MVP's if he's still "limited as a player"?

Your coming up with BS criteria that's never been used in the MVP discussion. If being the best player in the world had any relevance to the MVP discussion, Lebron would have over 10 MVP's by now.

[sashaturiaf]

Barring any injury, he's winning it. He's playing well and team is near the top of the league. I said in another thread that with LeBron, you know he's the reason for all the success. He is the system everywhere he goes. With everyone else its debatable.

Harden and Giannis aren't winning it, you can't reward those guys anymore. One is too limited of a player and the other guy **** over a franchise's season. Jokic is the only legit threat if the Nuggets finish with a similar record to the Lakers. He's "playing better" but everyone knows LeBron is still the best player in the league.

lol @ the back to back MVP being "limited", imagine how limited Giannis would be if he got to play next to Anthony Davis

This is an AWARD for the most valuable player during the 2020-2021 NBA season, not the coming or past playoffs or any other time in history.

narrative voting is nonsensical

Giannis is useless outside the paint lol. A guy like that should never win 3 MVPs in a row.

While I do prefer skilled players, Shaq won 3 FMVPS in a row...

Giannis is no virtuoso with the ball but he is far more skilled than Shaq

[Roy The Natural]

I don't care what metric Giannis is leading but he's the most limited player out there amongst all the players in MVP consideration. He looks completely lost when his team is a tight situation and his skillset is very limited. He shouldn't be there in the MVP conversation unless Jokic, Embiid, Lebron, Harden, Dame etc are disqualified. Anyone who watches the game knows that he's taking the Bucks nowhere!

1. Embiid (Gets the benefit of his stellar play for 1 more week. After that he drops below 5. GS played is extremely important)
2. Jokic (What can I say.. He's DA MAN right now)
3. Lebron (LAL to stay in top 5 league overall for a chance without AD- else will drop)
4. Dame (Has the better cast when compared to Jokic and Lebron sans AD. Only reason he is 4)
5. Luka (Was my initial pick to be MVP. Is climbing up the ladder as DAL wins more)
6. Harden (Would be number 1/2 if not for the fiasco at the beginning of the season. Big fan of Harden but that cannot be discounted. It happened.)

Rest is noise..

How is Lillard's team better than Jokic's? That's going to need some real explanation.

[ken6199]

lol @ the back to back MVP being "limited", imagine how limited Giannis would be if he got to play next to Anthony Davis

This is an AWARD for the most valuable player during the 2020-2021 NBA season, not the coming or past playoffs or any other time in history.

narrative voting is nonsensical

Giannis is useless outside the paint lol. A guy like that should never win 3 MVPs in a row.

While I do prefer skilled players, Shaq won 3 FMVPS in a row...

Giannis is no virtuoso with the ball but he is far more skilled than Shaq

The last big men to win a regular season MVP was Shaq, DRob, Hakeem. All one time winner almost two decades ago.

It's actually a testament to how skilled Giannis is for a big man (though not a traditional one) to take 2 in a row from the hands of more skilled wing players. Otherwise he wouldn't have won any, let alone two.

[Castle Black]

1. Giannis
2. Jokic
3. Harden
4. Lebron
5. Lillard
6. Embiid


• Giannis continues to trend upwards as he keeps putting up ridiculous numbers and his team keeps winning. Bucks are only 2 games back of the lead in the East and he’s one of the only 2-way players on this list. “Voter fatigue” be damned, Giannis is #1 on my board at the moment. Do I think he’ll actually win it? Probably not, simply based on narrative. Does he deserve it so far? Absolutely.

• Jokic continues to be the literal Most Valuable Player to his team, but Denver’s recent struggles have hurt his case (not that it’s any of his fault — he’s the only reason they’re relevant). Shame too cause he probably deserves it as his stats and usage numbers show. He really needs Murray and Co. to step it up and help him win some games. Denver is currently #5 in the West. If they can finish with a top-4 seed, Jokic has a real chance.

• Harden can’t be ignored anymore. He’s putting up insane numbers on a nightly basis with KD still out and BKN keeps winning as well. He’s a legitimate candidate, though having Kyrie on his team hurts him, as well as the narrative that he forced his way out of Houston. Narrative hurts him which will likely keep him from winning it. But he is ballin’ right now.

• Lebron is still up there as he continues his fantastic season at age 36 (!!) and the Lakers are back on track and winning again. That 5-game losing streak without AD hurt his case but Lebron has one thing going for him that these other guys don’t and that is that the media really wants him to win it. Narrative is crucial for this award.

• Dame is in the same boat as Jokic. He would have a real chance at this thing too if his team continues to win. I’ve seen multiple games this season where Portland had no business even being in the game, let alone winning it, and then Dame does his thing and takes over and steals the victory. He’s just ridiculously good and without him, the Blazers are a lottery team.

• Embiid is no longer in the race now that he’s set to miss the next 3 weeks due to injury. Too bad because he was having a fantastic season and his team was atop the East. He had a real shot and may have even been the favorite up until his injury, but no more. For shame

[taufblazers33]

1. Giannis
2. Harden
3. Jokic
4. Lebron
5. Embiid


• Giannis continues to trend up as he keeps putting up ridiculous numbers and his team keeps winning.

• Harden can’t be ignored anymore. He’s putting up insane numbers on a nightly basis with KD still out and BKN keeps winning as well. He’s a legitimate candidate, though having Kyrie on his team hurts him, as well as the narrative that he forced his way out of Houston.

• Jokic continues to be the literal Most Valuable Player to his team, but his team’s poor record won’t allow him to win it if this keeps up. Shame too cause he probably deserves it.

same can be said for Lillard, right?

[Balls Deep]

It'll be fun if that happens .... Also imagine if LBJ wins 2 more rings for the rest of his career and ties Jordan with 6 rings....

Barring any injury, he's winning it. He's playing well and team is near the top of the league. I said in another thread that with LeBron, you know he's the reason for all the success. He is the system everywhere he goes. With everyone else its debatable.

Harden and Giannis aren't winning it, you can't reward those guys anymore. One is too limited of a player and the other guy **** over a franchise's season. Jokic is the only legit threat if the Nuggets finish with a similar record to the Lakers. He's "playing better" but everyone knows LeBron is still the best player in the league.

So explain to me how Giannis has won the last two MVP's if he's still "limited as a player"?

Your coming up with BS criteria that's never been used in the MVP discussion. If being the best player in the world had any relevance to the MVP discussion, Lebron would have over 10 MVP's by now.

Lol you can win 2, but not 3. Do you know how many players way better than Giannis never got 3 in a row? He’s a great player don’t get me wrong, but not that great.

[JayMKE]

Barring any injury, he's winning it. He's playing well and team is near the top of the league. I said in another thread that with LeBron, you know he's the reason for all the success. He is the system everywhere he goes. With everyone else its debatable.

Harden and Giannis aren't winning it, you can't reward those guys anymore. One is too limited of a player and the other guy **** over a franchise's season. Jokic is the only legit threat if the Nuggets finish with a similar record to the Lakers. He's "playing better" but everyone knows LeBron is still the best player in the league.

So explain to me how Giannis has won the last two MVP's if he's still "limited as a player"?

Your coming up with BS criteria that's never been used in the MVP discussion. If being the best player in the world had any relevance to the MVP discussion, Lebron would have over 10 MVP's by now.

Lol you can win 2, but not 3. Do you know how many players way better than Giannis never got 3 in a row? He’s a great player don’t get me wrong, but not that great.

That's arbitrary as hell and not how awards work, which happen by NBA regular season not the season of whatever narrative you choose. It doesn't matter who won last year or before that, last season doesn't even exist as far as this award goes. Are you going to try to argue that Giannis didn't deserve his two MVPs? I'd like to hear that!

[Infinite Llamas]

1. Giannis
2. Harden
3. Jokic
4. Lebron
5. Lillard
6. Embiid


• Giannis continues to trend up as he keeps putting up ridiculous numbers and his team keeps winning. His team is only 2 games back of the lead in the East and he’s one of the only 2-way players on this list. “Voter fatigue” be damned, Giannis is #1 on my board at the moment. Do I think he’ll actually win it? Probably not.

• Harden can’t be ignored anymore. He’s putting up insane numbers on a nightly basis with KD still out and BKN keeps winning as well. He’s a legitimate candidate, though having Kyrie on his team hurts him, as well as the narrative that he forced his way out of Houston.

• Jokic continues to be the literal Most Valuable Player to his team, but Denver’s poor record won’t allow him to win it if this keeps up. Shame too cause he probably deserves it as his stats and usage numbers show.

• Lebron is still up there as he continues his fantastic season at age 36 (!!) and the Lakers are back on track and winning again. That 5-game losing streak without AD hurt his case but Lebron has one thing going for him that these other guys don’t and that is that the media wants him to win it.

• Dame is in the same boat as Jokic. He would have a real chance at this thing too if his team continues to win. I’ve seen multiple games this season where Portland has no business winning and Dame does his thing and takes ver and steals the victory. He’s ridiculous my good and without him, the Blazers are a lottery team.

• Embiid wins no longer in the race now that he’s set to miss the next 3 weeks due to injury. Too bad because he was having a fantastic season and his team was atop the East. He had a real shot, but no more. For shame

Milwaukee is two games up on Denver in a weaker conference. They’d be in a similar seed that Denver is in the West. Put Denver in the East and they’re closer to a one seed.

It’s tiring to see people keep saying how Denver has a mediocre record and prop up teams with similar records that play in a weaker conference.

Denver is finally mostly healthy and they are playing great basketball as of late (that third quarter against the Mavs the exception).

Denver is a .600 win team now and climbing. Time to stop referring to them as a middling team.

[Infinite Llamas]

So explain to me how Giannis has won the last two MVP's if he's still "limited as a player"?

Your coming up with BS criteria that's never been used in the MVP discussion. If being the best player in the world had any relevance to the MVP discussion, Lebron would have over 10 MVP's by now.

Lol you can win 2, but not 3. Do you know how many players way better than Giannis never got 3 in a row? He’s a great player don’t get me wrong, but not that great.

That's arbitrary as hell and not how awards work, which happen by NBA regular season not the season of whatever narrative you choose. It doesn't matter who won last year or before that, last season doesn't even exist as far as this award goes. Are you going to try to argue that Giannis didn't deserve his two MVPs? I'd like to hear that!

A big reason for the MVPs was also the Bucks record as they had a massive gap in wins over the rest of the league. Brooklyn will most likely be the #1 seed so I think Giannis and Harden kind of cancel the other out.

The West has been more than the three contenders the East has so I’m pretty confident the MVP will be from that conference this year. It’s kind of obnoxious to see the inferior east getting these awards playing against teams like the Pistons and Cavs every other night.

[clyde21]

Jokic
Embiid

then a cloud of dust for me

[Jurassic_Park]

Jokic
Embiid

then a cloud of dust for me

Where is harden on your list?
How many games missed for Embiid before you take him off? He’s bound to miss 15 games out of 72 total

[Kurtz]

Jokic
Embiid

then a cloud of dust for me

Where is harden on your list?
How many games missed for Embiid before you take him off? He’s bound to miss 15 games out of 72 total

On merit, Harden should now be in the conversation, especially with KD being further away than initially though. But the MVP is largely a narrative-based award, and Harden poisoned his narrative with his antics early in the year.

I think Harden has to blow away everyone else statistically to have a shot at it - and while his last 2 weeks have been unreal, his overall numbers aren't any more impressive than Embiid's or Joker's imo.

[Balls Deep]

So explain to me how Giannis has won the last two MVP's if he's still "limited as a player"?

Your coming up with BS criteria that's never been used in the MVP discussion. If being the best player in the world had any relevance to the MVP discussion, Lebron would have over 10 MVP's by now.

Lol you can win 2, but not 3. Do you know how many players way better than Giannis never got 3 in a row? He’s a great player don’t get me wrong, but not that great.

That's arbitrary as hell and not how awards work, which happen by NBA regular season not the season of whatever narrative you choose. It doesn't matter who won last year or before that, last season doesn't even exist as far as this award goes. Are you going to try to argue that Giannis didn't deserve his two MVPs? I'd like to hear that!

He was lucky to get the last one, LeBron was gaining momentum b4 the season got suspended. He deserved his first one though. Anyways, when it comes down to voting they’ll ask themselves “do we really want this guy winning 3 in a row?” and the answer will be no lol.

[JayMKE]

Standings are too bunched up to draw to many conclusions from few games difference right now, the bottom of the west looks way worse to me than the east this year so I'm not sure I buy the narrative about how there is no easy wins out west

[trickshot]

Jokic
Embiid

then a cloud of dust for me

Where is harden on your list?
How many games missed for Embiid before you take him off? He’s bound to miss 15 games out of 72 total

On merit, Harden should now be in the conversation, especially with KD being further away than initially though. But the MVP is largely a narrative-based award, and Harden poisoned his narrative with his antics early in the year.

I think Harden has to blow away everyone else statistically to have a shot at it - and while his last 2 weeks have been unreal, his overall numbers aren't any more impressive than Embiid's or Joker's imo.

If Harden sustains his current pace for the rest of the season then he will get a lot of first place votes. He's up there, it's just it takes longer than 2 months to overtake candidates that have been in the conversation for 4 months.

One thing is I'm not sure he sustains this level when KD returns. He has tended to assume a more limited shot-shy role when his co-stars are healthy. Also KD has tended to get the credit as the best player (as he probably should). Back when KD was getting MVP consideration I thought it was Kyrie who had been the MVP of the Nets but no one looked in his direction

[JayMKE]

Lol you can win 2, but not 3. Do you know how many players way better than Giannis never got 3 in a row? He’s a great player don’t get me wrong, but not that great.

That's arbitrary as hell and not how awards work, which happen by NBA regular season not the season of whatever narrative you choose. It doesn't matter who won last year or before that, last season doesn't even exist as far as this award goes. Are you going to try to argue that Giannis didn't deserve his two MVPs? I'd like to hear that!

He was lucky to get the last one, LeBron was gaining momentum b4 the season got suspended. He deserved his first one though. Anyways, when it comes down to voting they’ll ask themselves “do we really want this guy winning 3 in a row?” and the answer will be no lol.

Lebron wasn't ever close to winning MVP last year, him not actually being close and winning the post season+whining publicly about not being named MVP seems to be what has sparked that this narrative that he's owed it. Giannis had 85% of the vote and the Bucks struggled in the bubble, they were going to win 70 games before the stoppage. No bubble and the Bucks beat Miami pretty easily and likely would have been in the finals which I'm sure would have been tougher than Jimmy Butler + a bunch of kids. The stoppage if anything helped Lebron out given his advanced age.

WAY more people had Harden has MVP the year before than Lebron last year but that still wasn't a very close vote.