ESPN released their second ‘draft’ of the NBA MVP poll on Tuesday, revealing where Milwaukee Bucks‘ two-time MVP sits in the rankings.
Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo Ranked Third
Initially, the MVP award was Joel Embiid’s to lose. No one was going to take that from him. However, a devastating knee injury would put Embiid out of contention, as he became the first start to become ineligible for any end-of-season awards as he won’t be playing 65 or more games this season. Embiid underwent surgery for his knee and will be reevaluated in a few weeks.
As a result of his injury, Embiid did not receive any votes in the second round of ESPN’s MVP straw poll. Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets climbed his way to the top, earning 100 votes with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder ranked second with 99.
Milwaukee’s very own Giannis Antetokounmpo received 87 votes in the second round of voting, earning him third place in the poll, respectively.
Antetokounmpo received two first-place votes, 11 second-place votes, 43 third-place votes, 24 fourth-place votes, and seven fifth-place votes. At the time of the poll being released, Giannis is averaging 30.8 PPG, 11.4 rebounds, and 6.3 assists while shooting 61.1% from the field.
Love the direction we are heading 💪🏾🙌🏾 pic.twitter.com/9E38aiS7uv
— Giannis Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) February 13, 2024
Giannis Still Able to Climb to the Top
Despite the Greek Freak being ranked third, there’s still time for the two-time MVP to climb his way to the top. Tim Bontemps of ESPN had wrote that Giannis’s amazing, record-breaking & setting season has just been overshadowed due to the Milwaukee Bucks having a less-than-satisfying season.
When comparing the top-three players in the MVP poll, Giannis is arguably the most productive and consistent player out of the three. Jokic is averaging 26.3 PPG, 12.2 rebounds, 9.0 assists, and 1.2 steals per game while Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 31.0 PPG, 5.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 2.2 steals per game.
There’s still time for Giannis to continue to prove himself and win over voters to pick him to be NBA’s MVP at the end of the season.
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