[NBA] Comments that don't warrant a thread (JUN)

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#68
Giannis MVP.

Take that, Harden. No titles or regular season accolades you so desperately crave.
I'm so happy Giannis won it. IMO, he was the most deserving. He led Milwaukee to best record in the league -- when that franchise isn't accustomed to that kind of success -- and it eventually took Kawhi and the World Champion Toronto Raptors to take them out of the postseason (I realize it's a regular season award).

Also, it was refreshing to see his emotional and humble acceptance speech. That dude is clearly among the top 3-5 players in the league. If he's not #1, it's because he hasn't consistently extended his range. But an argument can certainly be made for him as #1.

I watched a segment last night between Max Kellerman and Stephen A. Smith in which they were debating who should win the MVP award. IMO, Max nailed it with his take. To paraphrase, he said that while he acknowledges that Harden was more eye popping offensively -- it was still close. He even cited some advanced stats to back that statement up. He then went on to point out that defensively, it's not even close. Giannis was immensely better on that end. And, lastly, he pointed to the fact that Giannis' team ended up with the best record in the NBA.

For me, it's really hard to argue against those points.

The literal definition of MVP is rarely, if ever, accounted for in any of the 4 major pro sports. They don't tend to consider what would happen if you removed player A and player B from their respective teams then speculate who would be missed more. Typically, and perhaps unfairly, the award goes to the best player on the best team -- unless your name is Kobe Bryant (who should have won more than once). Also, newcomers that haven't yet won the award tend to get additional weight -- right or wrong.

Giannis checked all the boxes this season.

Lastly, and selfishly, I'm so glad the bearded hag didn't win it as it would be laughable to me that he'd already have more than Kobe Bryant -- who led his team to titles twice as the undisputed alpha. As much as I loathe the LAL, Bryant played for 20 seasons and has gone down as one of the top 10 players to ever play the game. Certainly top 3-5 of the past 30 years. Yet the dude only has one MVP.

I had no issue with Steph Curry winning the award twice. He's been part of 3 titles so far and largely factored in to how the game has changed the past 8 years. But for a dude like Harden to have won it more times than Kobe already -- despite not winning much of anything in terms of team accomplishments -- that wouldn't sit well with me.

I'm sure it's probably bound to happen in the next few seasons, if not next season, but not this year with how Giannis and his team performed.
 
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