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Tonight on TNT: Rockets vs. Bucks, 8 ET
In a perfect world – or at least a perfect world of post-season NBA awards – Giannis Antetokounmpo and the reigning MVP of Kia, James Harden, would face in the final . With their respective teams, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Houston Rockets, their skills, competitiveness and impact would be highlighted, not only during random parties organized in random basketball games, but also by winning a championship.
They would demonstrate, in a word, their value. With respect to their teams and their victories compared to all the other players in the league watching from home.
he could happen. The Bucks and Rockets could eventually meet in the final to set up this dream clash with the most valuable player. A long shot though, no? In addition, in the current "flawed" system, ballots are due at the end of the regular season.
So, with respect to the two top NBA first-place nominees in the field, we have to settle for the Rockets' only visit to Milwaukee in the regular season tonight.
And let's be honest, a reward that honors the value of a player on 82 games will not and should not be determined by the outcome or stats in a single clash. Nevertheless, voters are likely to be looking for subtlety, nuance and this extra 1.2% share of data to try to make an enlightened selection.
At this point in the season, we are talking realistically about the More Precious player because it looks like a two-man race. Others have had wonderful seasons and three of them, in various combinations, will be on the ballot of the most useful candidate.
But Antetokounmpo and Harden seem to have distanced themselves from the competition because of their individual excellence, the fortunes of their teams, some raw statistics and many intangible assets in play since October.
It's a rough definition of "precious", the key to that price and a word that can be so amorphous in times like this. In 2016-17, trying to choose Between Harden and Russell Westbrook of Oklahoma City in a race similar to two favorites, a panel of insiders from the NBA was asked to specify on NBA.com their voting criteria.
The result? A hodgepodge of standards and measures. All legitimate, by the way.
"I've always said that there was a complex matrix of factors that come into play during this vote," said our man Sekou Smith. Colleague John Schuhmann summed things up as follows: "My vote was awarded to the individual who had the most impact on the why of a good team." Others have cited an instinctive reaction or a global value.
My definition of MVP has tried to illustrate how difficult the term can be. It's "the best player in the team with the best record," I wrote then. "Unless it was the star who did something statistically and statistically on the canvas of the 82 games of the regular season. Unless this is the most responsible guy to have propelled his team beyond the pre-season predictions of the so-called experts. Unless it's the player who does not enjoy playing alongside other All-Stars players or winners, and who therefore bears the heaviest burden for six months. Unless he is the guy who raises his teammates and coaching staff so much that they are rewarded with honors and rewards. Unless it's the artist without whom his team would fall the most, as determined by, uh, our imagination. "
In other words, it's a mix of analytics and visual testing. And thanks to the notion of "value" that makes the difference, it is the source of endless debate and, therefore, unexpected ingenuity on the part of the NBA and other leagues.
Some sports opt for the title of "Player of the Year", which tends to focus more on the individual and to remove some of the team component. If that was the case in the NBA, Harden could be the easiest choice. He is on the verge of becoming the first player in NBA history to average an average of 35 points and seven assists in one season (Nate Archibald, in his famous 1972-73 season, led the league in both categories. with 34 points per game and 11.4 points per game). He scored 50 points or more eight times, doubling 60 points.
His offensive style "iso" is not the most aesthetic. Harden has improved his defense efforts and efficiency, but he has set the bar extremely low for most of his career. He went through Houston through a series of injuries, including his back teammate Chris Paul and the great man Chris Capela, and helped the Rockets reach a peak. NBA-best mark 14-3 since the All-Star 2019 NBA.
Antetokounmpo's statistics – 27.4 points per game, 12.6 points per game and 6.0 points per game – also support his argument, as these figures were previously compared down the line, but only by the legendary Hall of Famer (and Bucks legend), Oscar Robertson. He is the league leader in non-assisted dunks and has the highest career goal percentage of his season (58.2%).
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