This season, the MVP race is closer than we’ve seen in a long time. Still, with half of the season in the books already, at least five guys have a legitimate case to be made, including Donovan Mitchell, Luka Doncic, and Jayson Tatum, to name a few.
At the top of the list, however, are two players who have been a cut above the rest this year: Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic.
Giannis was the favorite at the start of the season when Milwaukee went 9-0. Today, it’s Jokic who has the lead as Denver holds the first seed in the West.
Speaking on NBA Today this week, former NBA champion Richard Jefferson revealed his pick for MVP and revealed his thinking behind Jokic’s place in the conversation.
“When you’re doing the MVP race, you’re talking about two of the best players in the world. You’re talking about two of the best teams. In the world, championship teams. So when I sit here and tell you that I don’t know if he’s (Jokic) the dude right now. I don’t have him over Giannis. I have him and Giannis neck-and-neck. That means Giannis can have a good week, and he jumps a little bit. Jokic could have two okay games, it’s not like Denver is undefeated. I’m not trying to de-value anything that Jokic is doing but we need to take a harder look at what Giannis is doing with all of his teammates injured.”
.@Rjeff24 isn't buying Jokic as the MVP over Giannis just yet 👀
"We need to take a harder look at what Giannis is doing with all of his teammates injured." pic.twitter.com/CeVQevyZ6P
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) January 12, 2023
The Milwaukee Bucks have been struggling of late, and Giannis hasn’t been as dominant as he was early on. But with all the injuries that have plagued Milwaukee over the past few weeks, Antetokounmpo is doing a good enough job holding down the fort and keeping his team alive as his co-stars get healthy.
Can The Milwaukee Bucks Re-Gain Their Championship Form?
All-in-all, the Bucks have made a lot of mistakes recently and they’ve fallen to third in the standings after splitting their last 10 games. With concern at critical levels, Giannis issued the following statement to the media:
“I don’t know,” Antetokounmpo said. “I think being complacent. We are being comfortable. We just expect to, I don’t know, (that) people are just going to hand us games. It doesn’t work that way. I think you have to go out there and kind of take it. You have to go out there and play good basketball, build good habits, defend and kind of, you know, compete. You have to f—— go out there and take things, take things that we want. Nobody is going to give you games. Nobody is going to give you a championship…”
The Greek Freak knows more than most about what it takes to win a championship, and that experience alone should be enough to give him the benefit of the doubt.
As for the MVP, Giannis is going to rise and fall all season long, but his eyes are on a much different prize.
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