NBA MVP Rankings - 23 Mar

There has been some debate this season on which player deserves to be the MVP, with Paul George getting some love around the All-Star break for getting the Thunder up to #3 in the West, but they have fallen off a bit since then, and the talk has died down. There was a big movement to get James Harden another MVP during his historic scoring streak, and he definitely has the Rockets rising again, but the runaway favorite is and should be Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is by far the best player on by far the best team in the league. While there was some valid debate between Westbrook, Harden, and LeBron over the last few years, there should be no question this year. Here are my current MVP rankings, with their overall season stats and those from their best game of the past 6 weeks, with previous rank in parentheses:

1 (1) Giannis Antetokounmpo - MIL

Season: 27.5 pts (#5), 12.6 reb (#5), 6.0 ast, 1.3 stl, 1.4 blk , .581 FG% (#10), .725 FT%

3/17 vs. PHI - 52 pts, 16 reb, 7 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk, 15-26 FG, 3-8 3P, 19-21 FT

2 (2) James Harden - HOU

Season: 36.5 pts (#1), 6.5 reb, 7.6 ast (#7), 2.2 stl (#2), .438 FG%, .363 3P%, .878 FT%

2/28 vs. MIA - 58 pts, 7 reb, 10 ast, 4 stl, 1 blk, 16-32 FG, 8-18 3P, 18-18 FT

3 (4) Paul George - OKC

Season: 28.2 pts (#2), 8.1 reb, 4.2 ast, 2.2 stl (#1), .441 FG%, .391 3P%, .837 FT%

2/11 vs. POR - 47 pts, 12 reb, 10 ast, 2 stl, 15-26 FG, 8-13 3P, 9-11 FT

4 (3) Kevin Durant - GSW

Season: 27.0 pts (#8), 6.6 reb, 5.7 ast, 1.1 blk, .514 FG%, .356 3P%, .883 FT% (#9)

2/10 vs. MIA - 39 pts, 6 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk, 16-24 FG, 1-7 3P, 6-10 FT

5 (6) Kawhi Leonard - TOR

Season: 27.2 pts (#7), 7.4 reb. 3.3 ast, 1.8 stl (#5), .497 FG%, .378 3P%, .855 FT%

3/1 vs. POR - 38 pts, 3 reb, 5 ast, 3 stl, 14-22 FG, 2-4 3P, 8-8 FT

6 (8) Russell Westbrook - OKC

Season: 23.1 pts, 11.1 reb, 10.4 ast (#1), 2.0 stl (#3), .427 FG%, .654 FT%

2/14 @ NOP - 44 pts, 14 reb, 11 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk, 18-30 FG, 4-12 3P, 4-4 FT

7 (NR) LeBron James - LAL

Season: 27.4 pts (#6), 8.5 reb, 8.1 ast (#3), 1.3 stl, .510 FG%, .334 3P%, .664 FT%

2/12 @ ATL - 28 pts, 11 reb, 16 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk, 8-20 FG, 3-10 3P, 9-11 FT

8 (5) Stephen Curry - GSW

Season: 27.8 pts (#3), 5.3 reb, 5.3 ast, 1.4 stl, .471 FG%, .429 3P% (#9), .912 FT% (#2)

3/19 @ MIN - 36 pts, 3 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl, 12-21 FG, 8-14 3P, 4-5 FT

9 (7) Joel Embiid - PHI

Season: 27.5 pts (#4), 13.8 reb (#2), 3.5 ast, 1.9 blk (#7), .481 FG%, .816 FT%

3/20 vs. BOS - 37 pts, 22 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk, 8-17 FG, 1-3 3P, 20-21 FT

10 (NR) Damian Lillard - POR

Season: 26.3 pts (#9), 4.5 reb, 6.7 ast, 1.2 stl, .452 FG%, .373 3P%, .911 FT% (#3)

3/7 vs. OKC - 51 pts, 5 reb, 9 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk, 15-28 FG, 3-10 3P, 18-20 FT

Honorable Menion: Kyrie Irving - BOS