Award season is in full swing in the NBA, with several accolades already handed out. But the big prize – the Most Valuable Player award – is still yet to be announced, as are the coveted spots on the three All-NBA teams.
So who among the three finalists – Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo – will take home the Michael Jordan MVP trophy? And which 15 players will be chosen for All-NBA?
Read on below as SBOTOP lists down the case for who should be crowned this season’s MVP, as well as picks for all three All-NBA teams.
Joel Embiid finally set to emerge as NBA MVP
This is finally going to be Joel Embiid’s year. After finishing second to Nikola Jokic in each of the last two seasons, Embiid should finally claim his first MVP award this season.
Embiid raised his game to another level offensively as he averaged 33.1 to win the NBA scoring crown for the second straight season. He was remarkably efficient too as he set career-highs in field goal percentage (54.8), and free throw percentage (85.7) while also playing a career-high 34.6 minutes per game.
The two other finalists, Jokic and Antetokounmpo, are worthy contenders. In any other year, they very well could have collected their third MVP award as they put up spectacular numbers while leading their respective teams to the No 1 seed in their respective conferences.
While Jokic arguably hasn’t been at the level of his previous two MVP campaigns – and he hasn’t needed to be with Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr both healthy and boosting their NBA 2023 odds of success – he has still been at the centre of the Denver Nuggets’ dominant rise to the top of the West.
The same goes for Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has missed his fair share of games due to injury. But he is right up there in terms of importance to his team, and the defensive value he provides is greater than the other two finalists.
But at the end of the day, Embiid was simply on a different level during the regular season as he consistently carried the Philadelphia 76ers for long stretches. He was a worthy pick for MVP in the previous two seasons, but after coming short both times, Embiid will not be denied this year as he is quite clearly the real MVP.
Narrowing down difficult All-NBA picks
Embiid and Giannis are two locks for First-Team All-NBA, but by virtue of being a centre like Embiid, Jokic will unfortunately get pushed down to the second team. Boston Celtics star and All-Star Game MVP Jayson Tatum and Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who both averaged over 30 points per game, are also easy inclusions, while Donovan Mitchell deserves the second first-team guard spot for his impressive debut season with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Joining Jokic on the second team are Luka Doncic, Jimmy Butler, Stephen Curry, and De’Aaron Fox. Doncic had another incredible season statistically, but he gets knocked down to the second team due to his Dallas Mavericks having a disastrous end of the season that saw them miss the play-in tournament. Curry also had a strong case for first team had he played more games. Butler was the biggest reason the Miami Heat still made it to the playoffs this year, while De’Aaron Fox was fantastic in leading the Sacramento Kings back to the postseason after nearly two decades.
Fox’s Kings team-mate, Domantas Sabonis, is the clear third-team centre, with LeBron James and Jaylen Brown at forward. Jrue Holiday played a major part in the Bucks claiming the No 1 seed as he became the No 2 offensive option behind Giannis with Khris Middleton missing time with injury while still playing his elite perimeter defence. And while there are several guards who have a case for the third team (Devin Booker, Jalen Brunson, Anthony Edwards, Ja Morant), Damian Lillard deserves some recognition for finishing third in the NBA in scoring (32.2 PPG) and providing plenty of NBA 2023 highlights even amid the Portland Trail Blazers’ continued struggles this season.
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