LY: NBA MVP DEBATE
By: Allan Ly
RP Show Intern
The NBA season is done, and the finalists for the MVP are Nikola Jokic, Stephen Curry and Joel Embiid.
In my opinion, to be an MVP, you need to excel in three categories: the best stats, team record, and did you play every game.
Out of the three players, only one player won the scoring title with 32 points per game; however, their team finished ninth, and that was Stephen Curry.
Curry winning the scoring title is an impressive feat, however, that means nothing if your team does not make the playoffs.
For Curry’s case, his team finished ninth in the west, so he could play in the play-in tournament, but his team lost both to the Lakers and the Grizzlies to miss out on the postseason.
This NBA season was different. The NBA playoff format expanded, where the 7-10 ranked teams played for the final two spots in the playoffs, and the Warriors lost both.
Joel Embiid and his 76ers have the best record of the three candidates as they finished first in the East.
The reason why I think Embiid should not win the MVP because out of the three players, he played in the least amount of games [51] while Curry played 63.
Nikola Jokic is the only player out of the three to play the whole season with 72 games.
This NBA season was shortened from the regular 82 game season to only have 72 games.
Not only did Jokic played 72 games, but he also had the best stat line out of the three.
In the 72 games that Jokic played, he averaged 26 points per game, nearly 11 rebounds per game and eight assists per game. That in basketball terms is called a near triple-double per game. A triple-double is where a player scores in double digits in three categories.
Compare Jokic’s efforts with Embiid, who average 29 points per game and 11 rebounds but only three assists, while Curry averaged 32 points per game but only six assists per game and six rebounds per game.
Jokic also did not have his second-best player in Jamal Murray, who was out with a torn ACL injury as he only played 48 games.
Jokic is statically better than Embiid and Curry because he played more games than them both during the regular season and had better stats in more categories.
Another thing to add about Jokic to showcase how valuable he is to the Nuggets; he leads his entire team with the most points, rebounds and assists, unlike Embiid and Curry.
The second-highest rebounder on the Nuggets was Michale Porter Jr with seven rebounds per game, and the second-highest person with assists was Jamal Murray, who averaged five assists per game.
For Curry, out of the three: points, assist and rebound, the category that he leads for his team was with points as his teammate Draymond Green leads the Warriors with nine assists per game and seven rebounds.
Embiid did lead the 76ers in points and rebounds, but he did not lead them in assists as Ben Simmons did that with seven assists per game.
Jokic’s efforts helped get the Nuggets to earn the third-best record in the west. The Denver Nuggets finished with a record of 47 wins and 25 losses.
To further cement Jokic’s claim as the best, he needs to have a good playoff series to prove he is the MVP.
Currently, Jokic and his Nuggets are in a Playoff match-up with the Portland Trail Blazers and Embiid, and his 76ers are facing off against the Washinton Wizards. At the same time, Curry will watch everything from home.
(Follow Allan Ly on Twitter at @AllanTheIntern)
Photo: ESPN
