The NBA MVP is Flawed

Significance of the Award

The NBA MVP is the most prestigious individual award in American Sports. Each spring, veteran media members decide which superstar receives the highly coveted honor. The winner is forever immortalized as one of the greatest (and richest) players in NBA history.  

Every MVP has been inducted into the Hall of Fame and is immediately treated with millions of dollars of contract bonuses. Despite this award being so iconic and legacy defining it has become quite flawed because of the people running the NBA and those who vote on the award.  

MVP Candidates This Year

This year’s MVP race seems to be one of the most competitive in recent years. There are 5 guys that appear to have a legitimate chance to win it. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic. All have been playing exceptionally, and have attractive narratives helping their MVP case.   

Durant at age 34 is somehow having the best year of his career. He is averaging 30 points per game while shooting 56% from the field and 62% on two-point field goals. He has carried the Nets by having one of the most efficient scoring seasons in NBA history. After starting the season out of playoff contention, and dealing with Kyrie Irving caused controversies, the Nets are now sitting as the four seed in the Eastern conference with a record of 29-19.  

Jayson Tatum’s case is very simple; he is the best player on the best team in the league. He is averaging 31 points per game and is the key piece for one of the best rated offensive teams in NBA history.  He has also improved immensely on defense, he is becoming one of the best wing defenders in the league.

Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic are not very good defenders like Tatum or Durant; however, they are both far more statistically dominant than Tatum and Durant. Luka and Jokic are both perfect offensive players. Jokic is averaging 25 points and 10 assists per game while shooting a ridiculous 63 percent from the field. While Luka is averaging 33 points and 8 assists per game.

Apart from putting up video game like stats they have each had moments where they have looked like the clear-cut MVP. For Jokic it was when he had 45 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists and while leading the Nuggets to a win on Christmas day against the Phoenix Suns.

And for Luka it was of course when he had one of the greatest regular season games in NBA history. He had 60 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists in a win against the Knicks. He became the first player in NBA history to post a 60, 20 and 10 game. 

The Clear Cut MVP

While Jokic, Tatum, Luka and Durant are all having great seasons, there is one candidate who stands out above the rest. Giannis Antetokounmpo. He is the reason that this MVP race should not be close. Giannis is an All-Time great player who is at the peak of his powers. He is universally recognized as the best player in the league, and this year he is averaging 31 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists per game on 52% from the field and is the best defender in the league.

No other MVP candidate has the two-way ability of Giannis. And no other candidate has the ability to carry their team like he does. Despite playing all year without Khris Middleton, (Milwaukee’s second-best player) he has kept the Bucks as a top 3 seed in the Eastern Conference.  He should win this award running away, yet due to irrational voter fatigue he may be robbed of what he is due, like many other all-time greats.  

History Of MVP Snubs

The whole purpose of the MVP is to accurately identify who the best player in the NBA is each year. But because of voter fatigue, the award has gone to the wrong players time and time again. The media has fallen in love with giving the award to players who are having great seasons but are not the best players.   

In 2011 Derrick Rose won the MVP over LeBron James, who truly deserved the award. LeBron was the consensus best player in the NBA.  He was a First Team All-Defensive player averaging more points, more rebounds and more steals, with a higher field goal percentage than Rose.  LeBron was clearly the better player, yet because he had just won back-to-back MVPs, and Derrick Rose was a great new story, Rose ended up winning the award.  

1996 is another example of the wrong person winning the award. In 1996 Michael Jordan was at the peak of his prime. He averaged 30 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists per game, while also shooting 50 percent from the field. He led the Bulls to a then record setting 72 win regular season. The year ended with the Bulls winning a Championship and Jordan taking home Finals MVP. But Karl Malone infamously won the MVP that year instead. And these two are not just exceptions.

This has happened many other times in NBA history, in 2022 Nikola Jokic won it over Giannis. In 2017 Russell Westbrook won it over LeBron James. And in 2006 Steve Nash won it over LeBron James and the list goes on.

The MVP “Race” should be Boring

The problem at hand is simple; voter fatigue is influencing the media to vote for great players who are having great years but not the best player every year.  Every year we get every sports talk show debating the “Close MVP Race”, we get different media members each saying they think a different guy should win it, every year the MVP race is a great story.

The NBA MVP race should not be a great story most years. It should be a foregone conclusion because the best player should win it every year. And in the NBA whoever the best player is usually stays the best for years and years. But because the league would not be as interesting if there was not the constant narrative of the “MVP Race” and because there are always great players who are having great season and are great stories to fit that narrative players get robbed of the award year after year.

Would the NBA regular season be more interesting if LeBron had won 10 MVP’s in the middle of his prime and every year everyone knew who was going to win the award going into the year? Or if Shaq had won at least 3 in the early 2000’s? Or if Giannis was currently working on his winning his 4th MVP instead of his 3rd? No, the regular season would be far less captivating. But LeBron should have at least 10 MVP’s, Shaq should have at least 3. And right now the MVP discussion amongst NBA fans and media should be about how Giannis is running away with his 4th MVP; instead it’s about if he might get his third.

Why Playoffs Need To Be A Factor

While voter fatigue is largely to blame, there is another reason the award is flawed. The MVP is solely a regular season award, and that is something that needs to be changed. The player’s performance in the postseason is something that needs be a factor. One of the biggest reasons we look back at Karl Malone’s MVP and Derrick Rose’s MVP as undeserving, is because LeBron and Jordan both went on to win the championship while winning the Finals MVP. 

Cycle of False Narratives

NBA fans and media are stuck in a cycle that repeats itself every year. Going into each year fans and media generally have a consensus on who the best player in the league is. And then during the season a separate superstar has a great season. Because it is a new story and its captivating to have competition, everyone says that guy is the best.

A lot of the times they end up winning MVP. Then the playoffs roll around and the guy who we know is the best ends up winning the championship and being the best player in the playoffs. And it becomes obvious whether people admit or not that he should have gotten the MVP because of his season as a whole not just the regular season. This is why it is necessary that playoff performance needs to be a factor in who wins the award.

While the regular season matters a ton, the playoffs is where the difference between great players and the All-Time Great shows again and again. The Legacies of the NBA All-Time Great players need to be better represented by an improved unbiased MVP which is currently both the most prestigious and most flawed individual award in sports.