By: William Burns
With the NBA season already near the quarter way mark, there is a list of stars who have dazzled their way into early MVP talks. The MVP is not necessarily the best player in the game, but the player that makes the most impact on a team. This season there are three clear standout players at the current time, and these players are Giannis Antetokounmpo, LeBron James and Joel Embiid.
Antetokounmpo plays for the Milwaukee Bucks at the Forward position. The young star is only 23 years old and stands six feet and 11 inches tall and weighs in at 240 pounds. With the addition of some much-needed shooters to the teams, opponents’ defenses are now stretched a little further, allowing Antetokounmpo to operate without restrictions in the middle of the floor. Antetokounmpo has been more effective at scoring this year than ever before in his career, averaging 26.8 points per game, while shooting a career-best 57.2 percent from the floor. To go along with these career numbers, Antetokounmpo is also posting a career high in rebounds at 13 per game and assists at just under six per game. Antetokounmpo has been able to dominate in games and is the undisputed leader of his team, which currently has a record of 14 wins and six losses. If Antetokounmpo can stay healthy and continue at this pace, then he could carry his team to deep into the playoffs.
Lebron James has been in MVP talk his entire career, and this season is no different. The future legend joined a young squad in the Los Angeles Lakers this season and has taken full control of the situation. Even while his team has struggled, James has realized he needed to step up his game, and he has done so. James is averaging 28.3 points per game and has heated up from behind the arc this year by hitting a career-best 2.3 deep balls per game on 38.6 percent shooting. The Lakers got off to a slow 4-6 start, but James realized he needed to take over and since then the Lakers have gone 7-2. Over that span, James has scored 30 points per game and is shooting just short of 47 percent from three-point land. While the Lakers are ranked seventh in the Western Conference, the Lakers are just two and a half games out of first place. If James can keep up this pace and the young teammates can get on the same page, then this team could easily take over.
Finally, we have Joel Embiid, of the Philadelphia 76ers. Embiid is a center for the team and has emerged as Philly’s most impactful player. Now there is no doubt in my mind that if Steph Curry had not missed his last 10 games, that he would be in the top three, but he has not played enough to get him on this list. Embiid has proven his worth this year and leads the NBA in points scored and rebounds while averaging career numbers with 28.1 points per game, and 13.3 rebounds to go along with two blocks per game. It was thought that youngster Ben Simmons would leap into the co-star seat after last season, but he hasn’t taken off yet. Luckily for the 76ers, Embiid has picked up the slack in a big way, leading the team to fourteen wins and eight losses for third place in the Eastern Conference.
Obviously, these three players are all extremely talented and deserve to be on this list. Unless these players get injured, it will be these same men leading the MVP race as the season comes to a close. There is no clear best player among these three as they are all having stellar seasons and are very instrumental in their team’s success. I am unable to pick one of these players to be MVP at the moment and will have to wait until the season develops.
