Who will win MVP?

The ever-changing MVP race just flipped again. How will voters decide between Jokic, Embiid, Ja, DeRozan, Giannis, and others?

This year’s MVP race has been one of my favorite in recent memory. Giannis’ dominance over the award for the past several seasons has only been met with a few challengers: LeBron’s comeback 2020 season, Harden’s statistical masterpiece in 2019, and Jokic’s last-man-standing approach (which worked, because of both voter fatigue and The Joker’s incredible run over the past three seasons).

In 2022, there’s great cases for six players to be the MVP.

Joel Embiid, who has survived the Ben Simmons saga by leading Philly to an improbable 37-23.

Nikola Jokic, who is having another one of the best seasons by a big man ever.

Ja Morant, who has been the most electrifying guard in the league by a significant margin and has led the feel-good Grizzlies firmly into contender status.

DeMar DeRozan, who is breaking scoring records set by Wilt Chamberlain and has kept the injury-riddled Bulls near the top of the Eastern Conference gauntlet.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is as dominant as he’s been for the past several seasons and is hitting his free throws once again.

And then there’s Stephen Curry, the Warriors’ version of a trump card — the engine of the second best team in the West and probably the most dangerous team in the NBA when fully healthy.

I know that I didn’t make it any easier by laying out the elevator pitches. But I do know that just as we gravitate towards the players and teams we like, voters tend to gravitate towards the players we spend the most time talking about.

There’s still some fatigue surrounding Giannis, who elected to win a championship instead of chasing the MVP award for a third season in a row. Picking him feels unfair to the rest of the group. He’s out.

At a quick glance, Steph is having the worst 3PT shooting season of his career. It’s pretty easy to look past him for that, and I think voters will, too. He’s out.

We’re left with four players. Each of them can appeal to a different kind of voter.

For people who want to dive deep into the stats and present the MVP to the player that the numbers say is the MVP, it’s Nikola Jokic. (There’s nothing wrong with deciding that way!)

For those who want to choose based on narrative (a dicey word in NBA circles that basically means “Which player told the story of the season?”), the clear winner is Joel Embiid. (Nothing wrong with this, either!)

Some may strictly go on eye test, choosing the MVP based on the player that wowed them on a consistent basis. Easy to pick a winner here: Ja Morant. (Another perfectly valid method!)

For those who take all three into account, DeMar DeRozan might be the choice. He’s fourth in scoring, ridiculously efficient, having the best season of his career and jumps off the screen with his dominance in the mid-range.

No, this is not a piece designed to crown DeRozan with the MVP. I’ll leave out who I would vote for (hint: it’s not DeRozan). We want to hear who you would vote for. Leave a comment below!