We are in mid-February, with the All-Star Break just around the corner. The perfect time to take stock of the MVP race, and that’s good because ESPN has just released the latest results of its traditional NBA media survey. Unsurprisingly, it is Nikola Jokic who dominates the debates.
This is arguably the ranking that gives the best representation of the current state of the MVP race. Each season, Tim Bontemps ofESPN is responsible for carrying out a survey of the main NBA media, respecting as much as possible the criteria and formula used at the end of the season at the time of the votes (100 journalists voted by giving their Top 5, with 10 points for the 1st, 7 points for 2nd, 5 points for 3rd, 3 points for 4th, and 1 point for 5th). Last December, Jayson Tatum came out on top in the MVP race, but two months later Nikola Jokic took over.
Nikola Jokic looks primed to win 3 consecutive MVP awards following a recent straw poll ???????? (via @espn)#NBA #MileHighBasketball #NikolaJokic #MVP pic.twitter.com/a9wldMKuVn
— Sportskeeda Basketball (@Basketball_SK) February 16, 2023
77 votes for first place out of 100, and 361 points ahead of his runner-up Giannis AntetokounmpoSuffice to say that the double MVP in title is on track to make the pass of three.
In recent weeks, the Joker has not stopped panicking the counters – 24.7 points, 11.5 rebounds, 10.1 average assists – while chaining victories with the Nuggets, who find themselves alone today top of the Western Conference. Except for his missed meeting once morest Joel Embiid at the end of January, Jokic did absolutely everything to take the lead in the MVP race while others fumbled a bit:
- Luka Doncic still does not have the collective record sufficient to really get involved in the race.
- Giannis Antetokounmpo is currently on fire but had a difficult start to 2023 (absences due to injury).
- Joel Embiid seriously increased in power but started from afar.
- Jayson Tatum saw Boston’s collective record weaken a bit (still the best NBA record but more than a game ahead of Denver).
- Other serious candidates have gone through the infirmary box (Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker or Zion Williamson).
All of this now opens up a avenue for Nikola Jokic, who is on his way to becoming only the fourth player in history to win the prestigious MVP title three times in a row. He would thus enter a very closed club where Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Larry Bird are. The VIP circle isn’t bad, isn’t it?
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Source texte : ESPN