It's a combination of both. Whether it's fair or unfair, the media votes on the MVP and they will acknowledge that the grizzlies still looked like they could have been a very good team without Morant. Giannis is having just as good of a statistical season as Morant (putting it lightly) and the Bucks are struggling against good teams. Typically, most teams have a worse record vs. the league's top brass. Nothing abnormal there.
More than likely true, agreed
Well fair. I wouldn't be surprised if Ja finishes in the top 5 in MVP voting.. but I don't think he ever had a realistic chance of winning... I'm not sure what actually qualifies as an MVP candidate though. I'd argue Ja is one though.
He’s certainly a candidate…he’s having a better season than DRoses MVP year for whatever that’s worth. But it’ll be hard for anyone to overtake Embiid this season IMO
TBF, I don’t think they’ve been healthy for the majority of the marquee teams. Off the top of my head they beat the nets twice and the jazz as well.
No, you misread as usual. Losing as soon as Morant returned was just the nail in the coffin. What killed his chances was the grizzlies going 11-2 without him this season.
Embiid is going to be hard to overtake. But DeRozan absolutely has a chance. Especially given the Bulls hovering around the 1st seed. If they continue to have lingering injuries and DD continues to carry them to a high seed, it's very possible. Embiid is going to play the last quarter of season with a legit superstar.
Tell me how I misread?!
Both those things destroyed his chances. Not just one. He's not winning MVP
And I disagree with that notion. That isn’t impacting whether or not he wins MVP. Having guys like Embiid having he season he is does impact that.
Winning during the regular season combined with individual performance is what wins you MVP. Teams with a bunch of star players usually have a worst chance of landing the MVP award given the fact that you can take one of the Stars off of their team and usually they'll still end up being decent. The Sixers and Nuggets have both won about a third of their games without their two best players. Second best player on each of those teams have been Tobias Harris and Monte Morris respectively. Bulls are 2-2 without DeRozan in the lineup which is a low sample size, but the Bulls have had relatively low star power surrounding him, and a better team record as a whole. Plus, missing a small number of games definitely helps your cause in the MVP race. DD has missed the fewest of any player in the conversation right now. Ja has missed like 14 games and the grizzlies have won all but 2 of them.
I guess I missed where the sixers and nuggets had multiple all stars, and the bulls didn’t. Derozan has more star power around him than embiid(till now) and jokic. In regards to Ja, he’s the only all star on that team, so having the team with the best record out of those 4 guys should mean something judging by your own criteria you have laid out there.
Grizzlies have absolutely proven that they are at the minimum solid without Morant. That's one of the downsides of missing a number of games when you're in the running for MVP. I would have found it hard to believe that Memphis would have been able to keep their head above water without their best player but they did.
Every team has missed guys this season…point remains, as far as star power teammates goes…Ja doesnt have as much as derozan or embiid or any of the other contenders have really, other than maybe joker.
No Ja in your top 7 shows your bias and kinda invalidates your opinion lol. Nobody thinks Ja is not in the top 7 of MVP candidates.
I'm a big Ja fan, but how is he more deserving than any one of these 7 guys?
