Who Is the 2017–18 NBA League Pass MVP?
What player elevates their team’s watchability more than any other? We ranked the top 15 candidates…
The NBA season is off and running, but it started out on a queasy note with a gruesome ankle injury that ended Gordon Hayward’s season. Hayward’s loss was a blow for Celtics fans, but what’s it mean for Boston’s watchability? serge and I already revealed our definitive League Pass rankings, but the Hayward injury got me thinking… who is the NBA League Pass MVP?
Like any good MVP debate, there’s a method to the madness. MVP isn’t just who’s best, or LeBron would win every year. Most valuable is about elevating your team to another level. It’s not just who’s fun individually but which players are most important to their team’s watchability. If the worst were to happen, what players’ absence would hurt their teams the most?
That’s why you won’t find Kevin Durant on the list below. Remember how the Warriors were actually more fun before KD? No Chris Paul or James Harden either. Alone they’d be near the top; together they might well make the team a less watchable pile of whining flops. Those three have negative LP MVP value.
But some players push otherwise boring teams high into the League Pass rankings. They’re the guys that make everyone else on the team more fun. They’re the one creating, seeing three steps ahead of the rest of the field. They’re the alley, not the oop, the guy you want at every All-Star Game. They can take your breath away in an instant or suffocate you for entire stretches. They’re ready to emerge from the phone booth at any moment and transform your ordinary Clark Kent squad into Superman magic.
Let’s count down this year’s top 15 League Pass MVPs…
15. Dennis Smith Jr. (moves Dallas up 7 spots to #18)
Smith is the first of four rookies to make the list. That’s probably a bit optimistic, but aren’t you most excited to watch the guys you haven’t seen much from yet? That’s what League Pass rankings are all about. Smith is half Russell Westbrook, half Derrick Rose, and half Steve Francis. He is a diminutive but explosive athlete with a first step that’ll beat just about any defender on earth. He saves the Mavs from their annual meaningless Dirk send-off into oblivion, moving them up seven spots in the League Pass rankings from a forgettable #25 to a sure-it’s-Friday-night-and-I’m-home-alone-so-why-not #18.
14. Milos Teodosic (up 8 to #16)
This 30-year-old Serbian rookie is about to take late night NBA by storm. Teodosic has lit up Europe for a decade with passes from every angle and direction, and now he gets to bring Lob City back to L.A. with Blake and DJ. Milos is a passing legend and a mortal lock to have two or three assists pretty much every night worthy of SportsCenter.
13. Kristaps Porzingis (up 9 to #19)
The Knicks will be unbearably bad. They’ll hardly even resemble basketball. But there’s always the chance you’ll see something special from the Lativian Gangbanger. How many other 7'3 dudes can block a shot, bring the ball up, jab step, and hit a fade-away three? You can count the answer on one hand and have a few fingers to spare, even if you’re Jason Pierre-Paul. How many other Knickerbockers can you even name outside of the Unicorn? Porzingis saves New York from virtual anonymity.
12. Steph Curry (up 5 to #6)
It feels wrong leaving the two-time MVP out of the top ten, but it also feels wrong watching these Warriors much of the time, and that’s not our fault. Curry is the straw that stirs Golden State’s drink. The Ws would still be really good without him, but KD and Klay are pretty vanilla. Curry transforms the Warriors from It’s a Small World into Splash Mountain. In some other world, Steph, Klay, and Durant might all be top ten League Pass MVPs. This is the darkest timeline.
11. John Wall (up 11 to #12)
Nobody goes end to end faster than Wall. He’s got the LeBron chase-down block, he can throw or catch the alley-oop, and he’s a jumper away from being a legit MVP candidate. Nobody is tuning in to watch Tim Frazier run around Gortat screens and pass to Bradley Beal. Wall single-handedly turns the Wizards from Eastern Conference also ran into maybe the most likely non Cavs threat to make the Finals.
10. Nikola Jokic (up 11 to #10)
No one separates NBA casuals from League Pass nerds quite like Jokic. Nikola is the second Serbian to grace the list, and there must be something in in the Balkans because Jokic is every bit the passer Teodosic is but half a foot taller. Remember how everyone wished Arvydas Sabonis had come over from U.S.S.R. during his prime in the 80s? We got a second chance. The Nuggets play unlike any other team running their entire offense through a point-center that can pass, shoot, and do a bit of everything.
9. Kawhi Leonard (up 14 to #13)
It’s not that the Spurs are such an incredibly fun team with Kawhi, but it’s shocking how dreadfully unwatchable they’d be without him. Patty running point with two old twin towers in the paint feels like a bad version of a 90s team, and Tony and Manu have seen better days. Nobody needs to see that.
8. Joel Embiid (up 3 to #1)
The Sixers are the Warriors of League Pass. Take one star away and you’re still tuning in to watch everyone else. No Embiid? We’ll tune in anyway for Ben Simmons. He’s out too? Fine, gimme Markelle Fultz and Robert Covington. The Sixers are loaded with potential, and that’s why they’re the #1 League Pass team, but perhaps no one has more potential than the second coming of Hakeem Olajuwon. Now we just need Embiid to stay healthy — though you have to admit, that sort of adds to his League Pass MVP urgency too…
7. Ben Simmons (up 5 to #1)
If the Sixers are the League Pass Dubs, then Simmons and Embiid are Steph and KD. Which one’s more valuable? Can either truly be an MVP when they have both? We’re giving the slightest of edges to Simmons because his passing opens things up for everyone else, and part of Embiid’s joy comes with his value on the sidelines and social media. Simmons might average something like a 14/8/7 en route to Rookie of the Year. Take Simmons away from Philly, and you’d still tune in for occasional Embiid minutes. Take Embiid away, and you’d still love the Simmons Sixers because he makes everyone else on the court more fun. That’s the difference.
6. Kyrie Irving (up 10 to #7)
Is it just me, or are the Celtics actually more interesting after the Hayward injury? I wish nothing but the best for Hayward, but Boston went from 50-wins-and-a-Cavs-loss to a team built entirely around Kyrie and a bunch of young guys we know nothing about. Could Kyrie win the scoring title? Could he put up a Russell Westbrook eff you season? Could he collapse and take Boston down with him? Kyrie is suddenly one of the most intriguing watches in basketball, and he saves the Celtics from being depressingly unwatchable.
5. Karl-Anthony Towns (up 11 to #5)
Here’s the thing. Take Butler away and you still have a fun young Wolves team, one we already enjoyed last year. Take away Towns, and we’re also left with a team you’ve already seen, but it’s not one we enjoy. It’s every Jimmy Butler team from the past few years, and it’s frustrating as anything to watch. Towns averaged 28 points and 13 rebounds after the All-Star break while shooting 60% from the field and 43% from behind the arc, and he’s barely old enough to drink. KAT gonna get his yarn.
4. Lonzo Ball (up 11 to #4)
Hate LaVar all you want (seriously, please do), but Lonzo is a special player and the Lakers are must-watch late night TV. Lonzo has the special passing genes (and shoes) that make everyone around him better, and Luke Walton will let the offense fly under his watch. Ingram, Nance, KCP, Randle, and future MVP Kyle Kuzma will be fun, and they’ll all look three times as good with Lonzo’s dimes. He’s instantly one of the best transition players in the league. You will watch the Lonz Angelballs Lakers and you’ll like it.
3. LeBron James (up 16 to #9)
We take LeBron for granted. The man does things we’ve never seen from another human and probably never will again. But this ranking is more about the rest of his team than LeBron. You’re not tuning in to watch a throwback 2011 All-Star team of DRose, DWade, and KLove. You’re just not.
2. Russell Westbrook (up 13 to #2)
OKC may have more talent this year, but that doesn’t make Westbrook any less exciting or valuable to his team’s watchability. PG and Melo are nice and all, but how many times did you flip over to a Pacers or Knicks game last year? Russ is still the guy we’re here to see. He’s the one on a nightly triple-double watch. With Russ you get the dunks, the passes, the swag, and the petty. Always the petty. That’s worth the price of admission in and of itself.
1. Giannis Antetokounmpo (up 19 to #3)
Was there any question? Jabari and Thon are cute, but Milwaukee’s team is as forgettable as their city without their main man. Greek Freak is the Elastic Man with go-go Gadget arms. Dude crosses half court and can pick up his dribble and take two steps to the rim and dunk it. There’s no one or nothing like Greek Freak, not in the NBA or anywhere else in the world. He transforms Milwaukee from the Magic to pure magic. Soak up every glorious Giannis moment now before we start to get used to him.
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