Getty Giannis Antetokounmpo and James Harden are battling for the 2019 NBA MVP.
Fans will not know who won the 2019 NBA MVP award until the NBA Awards Show on June 24th. The race is expected to be between James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo. According to Covers.com, Antetokounmpo is the favorite to win the award with -400 odds, while Harden is listed at +300.
Keep in mind that the NBA MVP award only factors in the regular season. Even though the winner will not be announced until after the playoffs, votes were taken before the postseason began. Antetokounmpo averaged 27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.3 steals per game. Harden led the league in scoring at 36 points per game while also chipping in 7.5 assists, 6.6 rebounds and two assists per game.
Basketball Reference has computer model projections based on previous voting results. The computer gives Antetokounmpo a 48.1 percent chance to win MVP. Harden is next in line at 29.3 percent and Nikola Jokic is a distant third with a 3.9 percent probability.
Both candidates led their teams to success on the court, but Antetokounmpo led the Bucks to 60 wins along with the No. 1 overall seed.
James Harden & Giannis Antetokounmpo Both Likely Would Have Won the MVP Award in Prior Years
As The Ringer’s Bill Simmons pointed out, Harden and Antetokounmpo would likely have run away with the award in past years. The challenge is they are both having historically great seasons at the same time. Antetokounmpo may be the favorite, but Harden has a strong case as well.
Harden had 32 consecutive games with 30 or more points and nine games with 50 points (the most since Kobe Bryant during the 2006-07 season), per NBA.com. Harden became the first NBA player to score 30 or more points against all 29 other teams in one season. Despite the gaudy numbers, NBA.com’s Sekou Smith believes Antetokounmpo will win MVP.
Even though he’s far from a traditional, dominant low-post big man, Antetokounmpo controls games in the manner that Shaquille O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did during MVP-winning seasons during their Hall of Fame careers. (O’Neal said so himself this season.)
Compare Antetokounmpo’s raw numbers this season (27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.3 steals per game) to Olajuwon’s during his ‘93-94 MVP season (27.3 ppg, 11.9 rpg, 3.6 apg, 3.7 bpg and 1.6 spg) or O’Neal’s ’99-00 MVP season (29.7 ppg, 13.6 rpg, 3.8 apg, 3 bpg and 0.5 spg) or Abdul-Jabbar’s ‘75-76 MVP season (27.7 ppg, 16.9 rpg, 5 apg, 4.1 bpg and 1.5 spg) for some context on just how historically dominant he has been.
Antetokounmpo could conceivably win MVP, Kia Defensive Player of the Year and Kia Most Improved Player awards all in the same season.
Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix makes the case that Antetokounmpo’s supporting cast was not as great as what Harden had to work with in Houston.
The Bucks have sat atop the Eastern Conference for months, Giannis is doing it at both ends (he’s a sneaky strong candidate for Defensive Player of the Year) and then there is this: The difference between Giannis and the second-best player on his team, Khris Middleton, is far greater than the difference between other MVP candidates and the second-best player on their teams. Now Chris Paul’s injury blows that argument up to a degree, but Paul still suited up for 58 games this season. Without Giannis, is Milwaukee even a playoff team?