Why Giannis is the MVP… and it Really Isn’t Close

*This article was sent to me by Mike Scotch* (Mike Scotch prefers to remain anonymous)

With the NBA season looking more and more likely to return, talks have restarted in regard to one of the most highly debated questions in sports: who is the MVP? In order to properly preface my analysis, I believe it is fair to say that voter fatigue is and has been an issue in MVP voting in many sports. We saw it with Michael Jordan, and many will make the same argument now for LeBron and how both athletes deserve to win more MVPs than they did. But simply put, just because LeBron has one less MVP award in his trophy case than he likely should, does not do nearly enough to surpass the historic season of the Greek Freak.

Before moving into statistics, I have always found it interesting how the narrative of your supporting cast is shaped by national media. With the Milwaukee Bucks being one of the smallest markets in the NBA, their participation in the NBA finals, though it would be exciting, would in the eyes of the media, diminish income in comparison to L.A, NY, and other major markets. Therefore, I have become highly accustomed to flipping through sources like ESPN and FS1 to hear “NBA experts” declare that the Milwaukee Bucks do not have the manpower to win the NBA Finals as Khris Middleton is not a good enough second option. Middleton does have his flaws, but he is also very close to completing a historic 50/40/90 season. With that as a side point, as NBA fans, we have constantly been instructed by the media that the pieces around Giannis are not right to win a final, regardless of how good of a season they are completing. On the contrary, the Los Angeles Lakers, along with their counterpart the Clippers, have been viewed as the only potential options to represent the Western Conference in the finals. Whether the Lakers or the Clippers are picked to take part in the finals, the consistent analyst prediction aside from the occasional wildcard is the Western Conference representative will reign champion this season.

What begins to make this comparison a bit nauseating is the idea that analysts have presented the Lakers as likely finals favorites because they are a “more complete team”. I do feel the Lakers are a complete team, as I do with the Bucks and the Clippers, but it fascinates me that