Foreign MVP Invasion

[Ed Monix]

Given the last four MVP’s have been won by a European, Giannis Antetokounmpo (twice) & Nikola Jokic (twice), I am curious how people view the prospects of an American winning back the title of most valuable in the league.

Along with Giannis and Jokic, Luka Doncic & Joel Embiid are both seen as MVP candidates. Given that all are either in their prime or going into their best years, it could be some time until an American is seen as the ‘best’ basketballer in the world again.

In your (obviously) unbiased opinion, how many seasons will it take?

[86MaxwellSmart]

Who cares?

[Ed Monix]

The current candidates would be:

Devin Booker
Steph Curry
Anthony Davis
Kevin Durant
Paul George
Kawhi Leonard
Ja Morant
Jayson Tatum
Zion Williamson

[Goldstar88]

One. Jayson Tatum, 22/23’ NBA MVP.

[Birdman]

Good topic.. I actually didn’t pay any attention to it..Luka & Giannis gotta be hard to beat for years to come

[Ed Monix]

One. Jayson Tatum, 22/23’ NBA MVP.

Fingers crossed I hope this is the case.

I feel like Embiid is going to have a monster year because of how close he was to winning it last season, Doncic also looks like he’s in the best shape of his career and the Mavs offence is completely centred around him.

If I had to put money on it, I’d have to bet on Ja Morant being the next American to win the MVP. He’s going to put up big stats and the western conference is actually much weaker now, so they will rack up the necessary win totals.

[nickagneta]

Who cares?

Kinda agree. I could not care less if the NBA MVP is from Africa, Europe, Asia, the USA or Mars. I see them all as basketball players, not American players or European players or Middle Eastern players. If I am routing for someone to win the MVP, where they come from doesn't matter. What matters is if they wear Celtic green.

[celticsclay]

One. Jayson Tatum, 22/23’ NBA MVP.

Fingers crossed I hope this is the case.

I feel like Embiid is going to have a monster year because of how close he was to winning it last season, Doncic also looks like he’s in the best shape of his career and the Mavs offence is completely centred around him.

If I had to put money on it, I’d have to bet on Ja Morant being the next American to win the MVP. He’s going to put up big stats and the western conference is actually much weaker now, so they will rack up the necessary win totals.

If Embid is winning it is probably a bad sign for the 76ers. Hopefully they are smart enough to control his minutes so they can have healthy for a playoff run. Also if they want to be a successful team they need harden and maxey to offset some of the scoring load.

[Moranis]

well in June, the 4ish best odds were all foreign.  Luka and Embiid, then Giannis, then Jokic who was tied with Curry.

[Kernewek]

Who cares?

100%

But since the season hasn't started yet, let's entertain this -

First: are there cases where the MVP winner is the 'best' basketball player in the world? If anything, the rarity of a unanimous MVP vote would speak to that.

Second: the calculus changes if it's 'Most Impactful Player' or 'Best Player on the Best Team' (although the second might be more of a Finals MVP winner - i.e. Curry, an American).  So, going with the former, I'd say "not very likely" unless Golden State has another insane 70+ win season or KD turns back the clock and goes absolutely scorched earth with the Nets - not something I expect to happen.




Much prefer for Tatum to win Finals MVP over regular season MVP.

[GreenlyGreeny]

2022-2023 with JT.