NBA MVP Survey 3.0: Who will be the NBA MVP? The final survey
If the results of our last survey are precise, we already have a more valuable player in the NBA.
In mid -February, the second of the three AM850 surveys about the most valuable NBA player showed that the base ofL oklahoma City Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, I had a comfortable, although not irrefutable, advantage over the pivot of the Denver Nuggets, Nikola Jokic.
Six weeks later, the contest has practically not changed.
If the results of our Last survey They are precise (they have been in each of the last five seasons), Gilgeous-Alexander will raise with his first prize to the most valuable player (MVP). And in a survey that reflects the official vote of the League and was held for 24 hours on Sunday and Monday, Gilgeous-Alexander obtained 77 of the 100 votes For first place.
It was second in the remaining 23 tickets, with a total of 931 points, While Jokic ended with 769. After the two stars received all the votes except one for the first and second place in the second voting round in February, this edition was a sweep, something that had not happened in the 19 previous surveys conducted since the beginning of the 2016-17 season.
That domain at the top of the vote goes hand in hand with what both players have demonstrated on the court.
Gilgeous-Alexander It is on its way to winning its first score title with 32.9 points per game for a Thunder team that arrives at Wednesday night against the Detroit Pistons (9:30 PM ET, AM850) with a 63-12 record. OKC needs to win all the games to join the Chicago Bulls of 1995-96 and the Golden State Warriors of 2015-16 as the only teams in NBA’s history to win 70 or more games in a regular season.
Jokicon the other hand, he tries to make history by becoming the third player to win four MVP in a period of five years, joining LeBron James in 2008-12 and Bill Russell In 1961-65.
Despite the advantage of Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic presents perhaps his best candidacy for MVP.
With his best personal brands at points (29.3), assists (10.2), percentage of triples (41.2) and 12.8 rebounds, Jokic has promoted a template of the Nuggets full of injuries until third place in the west. Jokic seems safe that he will end in the first two in the vote to the MVP for the fifth consecutive season, something that has not happened since the six consecutive seasons of Larry Bird, from 1981 to 1986.
Two listening that spoke with AM850 said they would vote for Jokic, but that they were not very convinced of their choice, like many of the informal survey voters with whom we talked this week.
“I would keep Jokic,” said a listening. “For keeping the team afloat with injuries and its depth. The Thunder has been great in all aspects. There is a reason why 70 games will win.”
“Jokic is marking a statistical anomaly in the history of the NBA. It is at the level of Wilt Chamberlain.
“Jokic,” said another listening. “It’s difficult, simply because OKC is playing so well and Shai is great. But Jokic continues to improve his game.”
There was a similar level of uncertainty among the journalists surveyed, and many warned that they could still change their minds and pointed out that there was still time for something spectacular to incline the balance in favor of the three times MVP.
As, for example, achieving the third triple-double of 60 points in the history of the NBA, which was exactly what Jokic achieved in the remarkable defeat on Tuesday night in double extension against the Minnesota Timberwolves, in which he scored 61 points, his best mark of the season, and played all the minutes of the second half and both extensions. A voter even asked, during the game, if they could change their prediction.
Similar separation for third and fourth
The top of the vote has remained remarkably stable this season. Not only Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokic have occupied the first two positions in the three surveys, but the Milwaukee Bucks star, Giannis Antetokounmpo, And that of the Boston Celtics, Jayson Tatum, They have also occupied positions 3 and 4.
When the mid -season survey was conducted, Antetokounmpo’s position in the season’s end voting was threatened by a persistent calf injury. However, Antetokounmpo has already played 62 games, just three from the League threshold to be considered for the awards.
Antetokounmpo, who averages 30.2 points, 11.9 rebounds and 5.9 assists, remains the only player who has received a vote in each of the 19 informal surveys conducted in the last nine seasons, and has been among the top five in 13 consecutive surveys. Even among those 13, it has been remarkably consistent, being second once, fourth once and third the other 11 times.
Tatum has a similar history, since it has remained close to the top of the second level in the vote during the last seasons. But, beyond occupying the first place in the initial survey of the 2022-23 season, he has never overcome the fourth place and has oscillated between the fourth and sixth place. This reflects its results in the official vote of the awards (sixth in 2022 and 2024, and fourth in 2023).
Mitchell consolidates its domain in fifth place
In the second informal survey, the star of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Donovan Mitchell, It was in fifth place, but only for a narrow margin about The stars of the New York Knicks, Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson.
After March 7 and 8, and with Brunson absent in recent weeks for an ankle sprain, practically all their votes went to Mitchell, who seems to have assured what would be his first place in the top five in the vote to the MVP of his career.
Brunson, meanwhile, went from being tied with Mitchell for fifth place to obtain only two votes for fifth place on this occasion. Towns also descended on the list, after the Knicks have had difficulties in recent weeks, especially against high -level competitors.
Mitchell and the Cavaliers have maintained their leadership from beginning to end at the conference this thanks not only to their game, but also that of the eaves Evan Mobley, who also received several votes for fifth place in his second consecutive participation in the informal survey.
Respect for Cunningham and the Pistons
Last summer, it caused surprise when Detroit Pistons They extended the maximum rookie contract to Cunningham cunning, The first selection of the NBA Draft of 2021.
Cunningham had not yet been selected for the game of stars, had dealt with injuries and the Pistons came from a season of 14 wins that included a streak of 28 losses. Today, Cunningham is an All-Star, with almost an insured position for its first All-NBA team (which entails a considerable amount of extra money by being eligible for the Rose Rule clause and obtaining 30% of the salary limit), and will probably also be considered for the MVP after appearing on eight ballots and finishing seventh in the vote.
Cunningham, who averages 25.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 9.2 assists this season, has been the engine of an extraordinary season for the Pistons, who have already tripled their total victories last season and still have the opportunity to end in the fourth place of the east and be host of a playoff series.
“I am really excited to see what he and they can do,” said a west executive. “They just have to face it and see how their talent looks in that scenario …
“Let’s see how it develops in the face of game planning in front of him in a series of seven games. There are many things that you don’t know until you face it.”
Cunningham will not only aspire to MVP and All-NBA, but it should also be considered for the prize with the most progress of the League, and the coach of the Pistons, JB BickerStaff, will also be a firm candidate for the award to the coach of the year of the League in his first season with Detroit.
… And the oldest in the game
It is amazing that we are discussing the most veteran NBA player who received a single vote for the MVP. And yet LeBron James, 40, He finished sixth after obtaining a vote for third place, two for the fourth and ten for the fifth in the informal survey.
This is the first time that James receives more than ten votes in four years, since he finished fifth in the final survey of the 2021 season. Since then, he has only received votes in four of the 12 surveys conducted, although he now includes the last two.
That James has obtained so many votes is a merit not only of his game, but also of the way in which Los Angeles Lakers They have climbed positions in the classification after signing Luka Doncic And to give the opportunity to have the advantage of the premises in the first round (his career for the title of 2020 was in the bubble of Orlando) for the first time in 13 seasons.
