Magic Johnson has an absurd 14 names on his MVP shortlist

Magic Johnson is overflowing with positive energy. So much so that he can’t manage to cut his MVP shortlist to fewer than 14 names.

Magic Johnson’s Twitter account has long been a pristine example of unintentional performance art. Unironically tweeting the obvious as though it’s a blinding insight. Throwing down hyperbolic adjectives on anything and everything he can. It will make you shake your head but you can’t really be mad at a guy who just seems to love everyone and everything.

For example, check out Magic’s list of MVP candidates which is so long it needs two tweets.

It would be easier to list players who didn’t make Magic Johnson’s MVP list

That’s 14 players which … is a lot. The NBA’s weekly MVP ladder only covers five players. Basketball-Reference has a statistical model that projects the MVP probability for different players but they only bother to show results for the top 10. And it only gives five of those players a better than five percent chance of actually winning. An online sportsbook like Bet365 will give you odds on 23 different players (others upon request) But only 10 have odds of 40/1 or better.

Again, 14 is a lot.

But, again, you have to love Magic’s enthusiasm. He wants to recognize players like Bradley Beal, averaging a league-leading and career-high 33.3 points per game but doing it in purgatory with the Washington Wizards. Or Jaylen Brown, who is breaking out for the Boston Celtics but not leading his team in any of the major statistical categories — points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, 3-point percentage, etc.

I look forward to hearing the 11 players Magic is eyeing for Defensive Player of the Year and the 36 he has tabbed for his All-NBA first, second and third teams. Let everyone be recognized for their personal excellence!