The 2021/22 NBA regular season is over and now we enter the postseason, but also the time where all the awards will be given to the best players. The MVP race this season was one for the ages, with Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Joel Embiid starring in an intense duel to take the coveted award home.
These three have the strongest cases to win this prize, and now the narrative war begins, as everybody will try to convince their peers that one player deserves the award over the other two.
Brooklyn Nets’ Kevin Durant is getting ready to partake in the play-in tournament and had the chance to talk about this race. For KD, the favorite is one of his biggest rivals this season, but he knows that winning the prize won’t be easy for him.
According to Nick Friedell of ESPN, Durant picked Joel Embiid as his MVP this season, but also mentioned that winning the award is something that doesn’t depend entirely on the Cameroonian player.
KD said his pick for MVP would be Joel Embiid. As for the narrative aspect of the MVP race — as it pertains to votes, Durant knows it’s out of Embiid’s control. “In Joel’s case, more people like Giannis and Jokic. It’s as simple as that.”
KD said his pick for MVP would be Joel Embiid. As for the narrative aspect of the MVP race — as it pertains to votes, Durant knows it’s out of Embiid’s control. “In Joel’s case, more people like Giannis and Jokic. It’s as simple as that.”
— Nick Friedell (@NickFriedell) April 12, 2022
Contrary to last season, Nikola Jokic found big competition for the award. He still managed to take his Denver Nuggets to the 6th position in the Western Conference standings, and while many people think that ranking so low would hurt his case, the things he did for the squad are impressive enough to grant him the award.
On the other side, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid have earned some recognition, too, and Kevin Durant thinks his big rival has done enough to get the award. We’ll have to wait a couple of weeks before finding out who wins the award, but it’s fair to say that a lot of people will be unhappy with the result.
