Players with a 45/15/5 game on 70% shooting: Wilt Chamberlain (3x) Bob McAdoo Joel Embiid And now, Giannis.
Doc Rivers blames voter fatigue for lack of MVP talk around Giannis Antetokounmpo
NBASunday, 03 March 2024 at 04:00
During his 10 years in the NBA, Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks has been named league MVP twice but he has continued to perform at a level rarely seen, even in a professional league like the NBA. This year, he isn't thought to have a chance to win Most Valuable Player for a third time.
His coach, Doc Rivers, listed a unique reason why there isn't more conversation around Antetokounmpo winning MVP again.
“I don’t even want to get into it, but there’s been guys that you get tired of voting for,” Rivers told The Athletic. “Michael Jordan may be the poster child of that."
He went on: "And Giannis seems to be in that category; where you’re so good, everything you do is taken for granted. When you just look at his numbers, they’re incredible, and yet, you never hear his name. It’s unbelievable, but that’s a sign of respect more than disrespect in some ways.”
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For the season, Antetokounmpo is putting up 30.8 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game while shooting 61.9% from the field and 30.1% from the three-point line. He has indeed been having another incredible season and just earned his eighth All-Star appearance.
But the race for MVP is hotter than ever before with some very stiff competition. Joel Embiid was the frontrunner for the prize until another injury sidelined him. Nikola Jokic is now the player most likely to win MVP, according to conventional wisdom. But he too might end up losing to others like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Luka Doncic.
Antetokounmpo doesn't care about winning another MVP as much as he cares about winning another championship. He has repeatedly said that is his main focus and his season average proves that's true.
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