A Letter To The Voters of the NBA MVP Award
The NBA MVP Award is not as simple as crowning the best player in the league. The choices are endless. Here’s a letter to the voters.
Even at the height of his powers, Michael Jordan couldn’t control the media. In 1997, in the midst of winning his fifth title, not even Black Jesus couldn’t manage the narrative. Don’t believe me? The 1997 NBA MVP Award should have gone to Jordan. Instead, it went to Karl Malone. The only reason Malone won the award was because of one article.
Jackie MacMullan wrote an article for Sports Illustrated titled ‘Malone is playing like an MVP –not that anyone has noticed.’ That article, along with others, were the driving force for Malone winning MVP that season. If not for that article, Jordan would have another MVP in his trophy case.
Currently, there are more MVP candidates than we’ve ever seen. It’s nearly April, but there is an unusual amount of parody in the air. Today, my goal is to try and give some advice to the voters. I want to make sure they don’t mess up.
Don’t Get Fooled by Recency Bias
Dear voters,
Please, for the love of God, don’t fall into the trap of recency bias. Don’t become prisoners of the moment. After the All-Star break, we always see some players go on a tear. We then see this player gain unworthy MVP focus just because they’ve raised their level of play. Meanwhile, the actual candidates, who have continued to dominate, don’t get the attention they deserve.
There are a handful of players in this boat this season. I’d better not see the following names anywhere near the top of the voting results.
Devin Booker
Devin Booker is an All-Star. He’s the second-best player on the best team in the NBA. Devin Booker is a lot of things. An MVP candidate is not one of them. Out of the blue, the Devin Booker MVP narrative has appeared. Yes, Devin Booker carried the Suns without Chris Paul for a few weeks.
Does two weeks make someone an MVP? No. If that were true, there would be a lot more candidates. Kyrie Irving and Monty Williams can preach all they want, but Devin Booker shouldn’t sniff an MVP vote this season.
Jayson Tatum
Tatum is similar to Booker in that a stretch of excellent play has boosted his MVP narrative. Tatum’s awesomeness has been going on for months, not weeks.
Jayson Tatum since January 1st
28.2 points / 7.6 rebounds / 4.7 assists / 48% FG / 38% 3-PT / 28-9 record
Those numbers over a whole season would be MVP-caliber. The Celtics are scoring 16.7 more points per 100 possessions with him on the floor (124.4) than they have with him off the floor (107.7) over that span. Tatum has now become the leader in plus/minus in the NBA.
Still, Tatum has some drawbacks. He’s been one of the worst clutch players in the league. The Celtics have played a not-so-difficult schedule over the past few months. And, the cherry on top, he hasn’t done this for the whole season. As much as I love watching Tatum go off, he isn’t an MVP candidate.
Take notes, NBA.com.
Ja Morant
The Grizzlies are 17-2 without Ja Morant. They would have the best offense, defense, and net rating if Morant hadn’t played all season. Ja Morant isn’t valuable enough to be a candidate for this award. It’s as simple as that.
Don’t Miss What’s Right In Front of You
Dear voters,
It’s easy to get distracted by all the candidates around the league. Sometimes, you need to take a step back to appreciate a player more. Still, I’ve been disappointed with one player’s coverage in this award. This player is no stranger to the MVP award, having won two of them already.
This player’s numbers are eerily similar to those seasons that earned him MVP. And yet, people aren’t giving him the time of day. For one reason or another, we, and I’m including myself, haven’t appreciated what this player is doing.
I’m talking about Giannis Antetokounmpo, of course.
Voter fatigue is Giannis’s biggest enemy. His two MVPs are “enough” in the eyes of some. So, it’s easy to ignore these numbers;
29.7 points / 11.6 rebounds / 5.8 assists / 63% TS / 11.2 BPM / 32.3 PER
Giannis is having his best season since 2020, where he won his second consecutive MVP. The Bucks have dealt with injuries all year long. Their defense struggled without Brook Lopez down low, but would have been near the bottom of the league if not for Giannis.
The most unstoppable player in the NBA deserves more attention. I’m not saying he should win, per se, but we can talk about him more. That’s a fair trade-off.
The Hardest MVP Ever?
Dear voters,
For once, you get my sympathy. While I wish your votes were public, this award is unforgiving. To pick just one candidate to win the award is maddening. Jokic, Embiid, and Giannis are all doing incredible things this season. To pick one feels like you’re ignoring the other two.
As of right now, I think the MVP will be Joel Embiid. I don’t think that’s right, but he doesn’t have voter fatigue working against him. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s a media darling.
To me, the NBA MVP has to be Nikola Jokic. What he’s done this season, the most efficient season ever, has come without his second or third best players alongside him. And still, the Nuggets are heading to the postseason once more. All because of him.
I can’t remember an MVP race being so close this late into the season. Last year, Nikola Jokic won by default as soon as Joel Embiid hurt his knee. In other years, one player has been so far ahead of the pack that it didn’t matter what anybody else was doing.
The lesson we can all take from this crazy MVP race is to enjoy things. We’re in a golden age of superstars, comparable to the 1990s, where there were Hall of Famers galore. The voters are going to have one hell of a time picking the most valuable player this season.
If there’s one piece of advice I can give them, it’s to take their time. And, maybe look at some advanced numbers. Those won’t hurt you.
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