The nominees for the NBA regular season awards have been confirmed and it’s a three horse race for the MVP gong.
The league’s three elite big men in Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic have been rewarded for their stellar seasons by being named as the finalists for the premier regular season award.
Embiid averaged a league-high 33.1 points along with 10.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists for the Philadelphia 76ers, who finished third in the Eastern Conference. A perennial All-Star since the 2017-18 season, Embiid has made the All-NBA second teams in four of the last five seasons and having finished second to Jokic for the major award in the last two seasons, he is chasing his first MVP crown.
Having won the league MVP award in 2018-19 and 2019-20, Antetokounmpo continues to dominate at both ends of the court, leading the Milwaukee Bucks to the top seed in the Eastern Conference and the NBA's best regular season record on the back of another impressive season of averages - 31.1 points, 11.8 rebounds and 5.7 assists
Like the 'Greek Freak', Jokic is also bidding to win his third MVP award, however should he win this year, it would mark his third in a row, the first player since Larry Bird (1983-86) to achieve the feat. During the regular season, the centre averaged 24.5 points, 11.8 rebounds and 9.8 assists for the Denver Nuggets, who topped a rollercoaster of a Western Conference.
Embiid has been critical of the award criteria after missing out in recent years, but he appeared to be frontrunner before Monday's voting deadline. He has been the favourite for most of 2023, but his odds skyrocketed after dropping a 52-point game against Championship rivals Boston Celtics.
"The man just scored half of our points in an NBA game," 76ers head coach Doc Rivers told reporters after the game. "And I'm biased, but the MVP race is over." Commenting on the MVP race, Embiid told Headliners with Rachel Nichols : “One thing I’ll say is that if people tell you that they don’t care about it, they’re lying. That’s the best award you can get as a basketball player, it means a lot. If I were to win it, it would validate all the work that I put in.
“That’s why I cared about it, because you put in so much work and if you get that recognition, it just validates that you didn’t waste your time. But like I said, if someone tells you that they don’t care, that’s bulls**t.” Following a game between Denver and Philadelphia, which Embiid missed due to a sore right calf, Jokic was full of praise for his fellow center.
“I think he’s a great player,” Jokic said. “I think he’s gonna be remembered as one of the most dominant players in the league. The guy’s a beast, and he’s so talented. He can affect [the game] many ways on the floor. He can post up, he can face up, he can shoot 3s. He can defend really well. He can, in some situations, guard 1 through 5. So he’s a really, really good player.”
While Jokic offered praise to one of his MVP rivals, Antetokounmpo stated his desire to be the MVP once again, and also claimed he should have won the award more than twice. "Look, I will never try to create a narrative about the work I put in and maybe that might hurt me because I believe the last five years I've been the MVP," Antetokounmpo stated to the Bleacher Report.
"Do I want a third MVP? Hell f--king yeah I want a third one. I am extremely competitive. I try to make my team successful. That's what I get paid for. That's what I'm here for. I will never beg for an MVP award that I believe I deserve. I'm very proud that I'm able to play at an MVP level because that means I'm making my team very successful. That's the goal."
As well as the MVP, the shortlisted players are in with a chance of receiving awards for the Clutch Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player, NBA Rookie of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year and coaches in with a chance of winning the Coach of the Year.
The three finalists for each annual award are based on voting results from a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The winners of each award will be announced during coverage of the 2023 NBA Play-Offs next week.
