Voter fatigue is overrated, and I’m tired of hearing it as an argument for why Giannis Antetokounmpo won’t win the 2020 MVP.
Some of you may not have heard of voter fatigue before. If you haven’t, you’re not to blame because it’s applicable to only two players in NBA history: Michael Jordan and LeBron James. Voter fatigue is when MVP voters refuse to vote for a player because they’re sick of him winning the award every single year. Case in point: Michael Jordan, in 1997, when he averaged 30-6-4 and the Bulls won sixty-nine freaking games. Sixty-nine, the third-most in NBA history and second-most at the time! But, since Jordan already had four MVPs under his belt at that point, voters decided “Nah, we’re going to stick with the guy who’s a known choker and won five fewer games”. Karl Malone did not deserve that MVP, guys.
Another example is LeBron James nearly every year since 2013. James has either been the best or second-best player in the NBA for over a decade now but has only garnered more than six first-place votes once since 2013. Basically, you can make an argument for LeBron winning MVP every single year, but that kind of takes away the fun from the award.
Recently, some have been making this an argument for why Giannis Antetokounmpo won’t win back-to-back MVP’s. This is, *ahem*, hogwash.
Giannis Antetokounmpo does not have four MVPs. He doesn’t even have two yet. Voter fatigue isn’t applicable here. This century alone, there have been five instances where a player won back-to-back MVPs. That accounts for ten total MVP’s or fifty percent of all the MVPs won this century.
It’s not like Antetokounmpo needs to have some type of historically unprecedented season like Stephen Curry in 2016 either to justify winning again. LeBron accomplished the back-to-back feat twice without doing so, and there was nothing particularly spectacular about Steve Nash in 2003 or Tim Duncan in 2003. It’s not impossible and nowhere near improbable.
Okay, now that we’ve proven that it’s logistically possible, it’s time to demonstrate why it should be probable as well.
Somehow, someway, Giannis Antetokounmpo has found a way to improve from last year. Yes, the year in which Antetokounmpo averaged 27.7 PPG, 12.5 REB, 5.9 AST, 1.3 STL, and 1.5 BLK on 57.8 FG% and won 60 games.
Antetokounmpo has upped those numbers to 31.0 PPG, 13.2 REB, 5.5 AST, 1.4 STL, and 1.4 BLK on 56.5 FG%. That’s not even the most impressive part. Antetokounmpo is attempting 4.9 threes a game, blowing away his previous career-high average of 2.8. And, he’s making 30.4% of them! That’s far from average, but it’s not terrible anymore.
Now, those percentages would be an alarming sign for most other NBA players. But, with Antetokonmpo, who’s been crippled by his unwillingness to shoot in the past, it’s encouraging. Sixers fans would be running down the street if they saw those same percentages from Ben Simmons.
Antetokounmpo’s form is still clunky, and his free throw percentage has dipped below 60% this year. However, the sheer fact that he’s willing to shoot is a major improvement.
For the advanced stats junkies, don’t worry, Giannis meets your needs there too. The Bucks have a 12.3 net rating, which is 46% better than the second-place Los Angeles Lakers. Antetokounmpo leads the league in PER by a wide margin at 34.05 compared to second-place Luka Doncic’s 31.97. In fact, if Antetokounmpo continues this level of player, he’ll put up the highest single-season PER in NBA history.
Then there’s the fact that this Bucks team is worse (on paper) than last year’s iteration. The most obvious loss is Malcolm Brogdon, who was one of the most efficient players in the entire NBA last year. He’s now averaging 19-5-8 with the Indiana Pacers. The Bucks replaced him with Wesley Matthews, who, well, is averaging 8.3 points per game.
Just take a look at Milwaukee’s roster behind Antetokounmpo. The second-best player is Khris Middleton, a borderline All-Star and elite 3-and-D player. He’s okay as a second option, but he’s better suited for playing the third fiddle. Next is Eric Bledsoe, who’s a quality starter and a good role player. He’s a great guy who can be depended on 15-5-5 nightly and excellent defense, but as your third option on offense? That’s very, very questionable.
Then you look past Bledsoe, and there stands….Brook Lopez, George Hill, and Wesley Matthews. We must keep in mind that the Milwaukee Bucks are contenders. Lopez, Hill, and Matthews are all valuable role players but aren’t on the same level as other rotational guys on other contending teams. None of them, for example, are better than the Los Angeles Lakers’ Danny Green or the Los Angeles Clippers’ JaMychal Green.
Again, these are all great players to have on the roster and are by no means playing terrible. This isn’t a 2007 Cleveland Cavaliers situation when LeBron had to drag his team from the depths of hell into the playoffs. In fact, George Hill is currently knocking down over 50% of his shots from threes and is turning the ball over once every five years. He’s been terrific for Milwaukee. But, again, these aren’t exactly players to write home to mother about.
Lopez is shooting 29.3% from three right now and isn’t doing anything else on offense when he’s not making threes. He’s a good post-up player when Milwaukee needs him to be, but why on earth would the Bucks do that when they have Giannis? Matthews is still a sniper from three, but he’s lost his edge on defense. These are niche players.
Yet, here Milwaukee stands at 19-3, on pace for a 70-win season. They (probably) won’t win 70 games, but they’re zeroing in on another 60-win season.
We still haven’t even discussed how freakishly good Antetokounmpo himself is yet. He’s a 7-foot alien with laughably long “Go-Go Gadget” arms, with biceps built like the Terminator. He flies down the court like a run-away train, euro-stepping around and through every hapless defender in his path. He skates across the floor on defense, swatting weakside shots and generally causing mayhem on that end. And, now he’s adding a jumper!?
We don’t need to say much about how great Antetokounmpo is. Yes, he has flaws, like his lack of focus on rotations sometimes on defense. Or, of course, the fact that he appears on House of Highlights weekly with a new air-balled free throw. We can pick all the nits that we want, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s the best player on the best team (record-wise) in the NBA.
So, first seed in the NBA, monster stat-line, and not hated by the award voters (*cough* Harden)? What else do you need? This is the quintessential recipe for the MVP award. We can acknowledge Luka Doncic, but his stats aren’t much better than Antetokounmpo’s, and Dallas won’t win as many games. Shoutout to LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and James Harden too, but they all have better teammates than Antetokounmpo.
This is Antetokounmpo’s award to lose, and with the way he’s playing, it doesn’t look like he’s giving it up. Long live the Greek Freak, and let’s pray the Golden State Warriors rumors aren’t true.
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