The Only 7 Players that Can Win the 2018–19 NBA MVP
Why LeBron is the favorite, why Brow is not, and why this year’s NBA MVP is not who you think
It’s August. The old NBA season is long ago, and the new NBA season still feels so far away. All the key free agents are signed, Summer League is in the books, and all we’ve got now is the NBA schedule release and dreams of games to come.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t talk about next season’s MVP race. This year was a runaway win for James Harden, but 2017’s race between Harden and Russell Westbrook was an all-timer, and next year’s race looks wide open.
So what does it take to win NBA MVP? Three huge criteria stand out:
- He has to score a lot. Basketball is more than just scoring, but MVPs are almost always in the thick of the scoring race.
- He has to win a lot. NBA MVPs since 1990 average 63 wins, and they just about always play for a top-3 seed. When we pick MVPs from lesser teams, we often get it wrong. MVPs must be winners.
- He has to have a winning narrative.
That last point is most important of all. The NBA MVP ultimately tells the story of the season, and voters need to buy into that story. Did a candidate overcome something significant? Did he surprise everyone? Did he prove he’s really “valuable,” whatever that means?
