NBA Award Watch: Antetokounmpo, LeBron and Wiggins making a statement

Most Valuable Player

Last up on the #NBAAwardWatch is the most talked about honor in the NBA: Most Valuable Player. There’s often a debate between fans, does MVP mean Best Player or Player with Best Season? Well, through four games, Giannis Antetokounmpo is on pace to have the best season of any NBA player this year.

Antetokounmpo was a dark-horse favorite for the award, due to the landscape in the NBA. LeBron James coasts through the regular season, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry cancel each other out, Russell Westbrook has legitimate help this season and James Harden has a running mate in Chris Paul.

The Greek Freak might be the only superstar where the difference in skill between him and the second-best player on the team is so large. Coming into Monday’s contest, Antetokounmpo was averaging 38.3 points, 5.0 assists and 9.7 rebounds per game on 67 percent shooting.

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Antetokounmpo has carried the Bucks to a 3-1 record through three games, with the only loss coming to James and the Cavaliers. He’s taken down the Celtics and the Blazers — two high-end playoff teams in other games.

While it’s early in the season, if the Bucks can finish in the top-four of the Eastern Conference and Antetokounmpo can maintain his dominant play and high usage rate, the MVP should be all his at the end of the season.