DeMar DeRozan picked things right where he left them on Thursday night. The Chicago Bulls star is on a tear right now, leading his squad to the top of the Eastern Conference standings, becoming one of the biggest stories of the 2021/22 NBA season.
Following another impressive performance against the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday night, everybody was in awe of DeRozan’s quality, who became one of the few players who scored 35+ points in eight consecutive games.
He is the man of the hour today, and ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith showered him in praise during a recent edition of First Take. The analyst said that Joel Embiid and DeRozan are fighting for the 2022 NBA MVP award, but he thinks the guard is the frontrunner to win the coveted award.
“I have DeMar DeRozan neck-and-neck with Joel Embiid at this particular moment,” Smith said. “No one can be definitively placed above DeMar DeRozan for league MVP honors.”
.@stephenasmith believes DeMar DeRozan is the frontrunner for MVP 👀
"Right now NOBODY, and I do mean no one, can be definitively placed ahead of DeMar DeRozan for league MVP honors." pic.twitter.com/ItLy2dpdzh
— First Take (@FirstTake) February 25, 2022
Kendrick Perkins agreed with Smith, mentioning that the Bulls are going through a sweet moment right now, and DeRozan has been the leader of the squad during that good run.
“The Chicago Bulls I believe are on a six-game winning streak, (DeRozan) has doing this with an injured Zach Lavine, no Lonzo Ball, no Alex Caruso, he has been balling,” Perkins said. “I haven’t seen a guy get buckets like this, at an efficient level, from the mid-range area, since Michael Jordan.”
DeMar revived his career after looking lost in San Antonio. He was deemed the worst addition of the offseason and now is getting more and more attention as an MVP candidate. Even the NBA’s MVP ladder places him at the 4th spot right now, but he could surpass Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, and Nikola Jokic on that list if he keeps this incredible level.
