
<p>There has been much debate regarding who should win the <strong><a href="https://news.thesportsdrop.com/nba/nba-top-3-finest-current-players-who-have-never-won-defensive-player-of-the-year-20230424-SPD-3597.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NBA’s Most Valuable Player</a></strong> award. It’s arguable that Michael Jordan and <strong><a href="https://news.thesportsdrop.com/nba/top-3-contenders-for-2022-23-nba-coach-of-the-year-20230409-SPD-3565.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">LeBron James</a></strong> should have won at least 10 of them between them if the award were meant to go to the greatest player.</p>



<p>There is no universal agreement on what constitutes a “Most Valuable Player.” In addition, voters that rely on the media tend to be narrative-based, which might lead to emotional judgments rather than logical ones.</p>



<p>This year’s winner, Joel Embiid, deserved it. While he certainly did deserve it, some fans can’t help but feel that other deserving celebrities were overlooked. The information you need to know about them will be provided below.</p>



<h2>3. Jayson Tatum</h2>



<p>The Boston Celtics maintained the highest level of consistency during the NBA season. A slide caused them to fall behind the Milwaukee Bucks, but they were still considered the favorites to win the Eastern Conference.</p>



<p>Naturally, much of the credit for that goes to Jayson Tatum and his outstanding performance. The youthful forward shot 46.6% from the field and averaged 30.1 points, 8.8 boards, 4.6 assists, 1.1 steals, and 3.2 three-pointers per game, all career highs.</p>



<h2>2. Giannis Antetokounmpo</h2>



<p>The Boston Celtics were the most consistent team in the NBA. Even though they had just fallen behind the Milwaukee Bucks due to a slump, they were still widely regarded as the best team in the Eastern Conference.</p>



<p>That’s mostly due to Jayson Tatum’s great performance, of course. The young forward’s 46.6% field goal percentage and career highs of 30.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.1 steals, and 3.2 three-pointers per game were impressive.</p>



<h2>1. Nikola Jokic</h2>



<p>The MVP voting was mostly in Nikola Jokic’s favor this season. But it appears that the public as a whole has been unwilling to honor him for three years running, even though his previous accomplishments should have no bearing on his standing this year.</p>



<p>The Denver Nuggets dominated the Western Conference, and Nikola Jokic was the top player in the NBA by almost every advanced statistic. He shot an astounding 63.2% from the field while averaging 24.5 points, 11.8 rebounds, 9.8 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.</p>


Top 3 greatest 2023 NBA MVP Award snubs

Top 3 greatest 2023 NBA MVP Award snubs - thesportsdrops NEWS

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<p>Among the highest honors a professional basketball player can get, <strong><a href="https://news.thesportsdrop.com/nba/luka-doncic-and-potential-mvp-candidates-of-2022-23-nba-season-20221110-SPD-3142.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MVP honors</a></strong> from the National Basketball Association are among the most sought-after. Yet, only a select group of legends, <strong><a href="https://news.thesportsdrop.com/nba/top-3-teams-in-2022-23-nba-season-so-far-20221210-SPD-3243.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nikola Jokic</a></strong> included, have accomplished this feat several times.</p>



<p>According to all indications, the 28-year-old Serbian will win the prize for the third year in a row. However, there are many who argue he shouldn’t be the clear frontrunner since other players have higher statistics.</p>



<p>On every given day, Jokic deserves to win, but the NBA is a story-driven competition, so he didn’t. Now, <em>NBA.com</em> have analyzed the three competitors for MVP this year who have a realistic chance of defeating him.</p>



<h2>3. Luka Doncic</h2>



<p>During the course of his NBA career, Luka Doncic has made defenders look foolish, and he seems to be improving rather than declining. In any other year, his stats would be MVP caliber.</p>



<p>Doncic’s MVP prospects may be hurting since he couldn’t get the Dallas Mavericks into the playoffs. He may not be successful since his squad isn’t very strong.</p>



<h2>2. Giannis Antetokounmpo</h2>



<p>One might be forgiven for thinking that we’ve become complacent with Giannis Antetokounmpo. Don’t misunderstand me, however; the things the Greek Freak has been up to for years aren’t typical and may never be repeated.</p>



<p>With the Milwaukee Bucks, Giannis is the team leader in almost every statistical category, and he is also one of the finest defenders in the NBA and an unstoppable attacking force inside the paint.</p>



<h2>1. Joel Embiid</h2>



<p>Too many seasons have passed with Joel Embiid being the league’s second-best player but without him winning the award. As a result of sharing the court with Jokic throughout his peak, he has been unable to win the honor.</p>



<p>Health has been the greatest question mark for Embiid about MVP voting, but as long as he is playing, the Philadelphia 76ers will be contenders. He hasn’t missed much court time this year, leading some to argue that he should win the MVP.</p>


Top 3 players that might challenge Nikola Jokic for 2023 NBA MVP award

Top 3 players that might challenge Nikola Jokic for 2023 NBA MVP award - thesportsdrops NEWS


<p>After the <strong><a href="https://news.thesportsdrop.com/nba/three-nba-teams-with-the-most-potential-for-february-sales-20230121-SPD-3338.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NBA’s 2023 All-Star</a></strong> starters were named on Thursday, a few reserves with justifiable complaints were expected. The starting have been announced, with the fan vote accounting for 50%, the media vote for 25%, and the player vote for the remaining 5%. It was revealed that Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has been named an NBA All-Star for the 19th time, matching Abdul-Jabbar for the most All-Star appearances in NBA history. </p>



<p>James, who received the most votes in the league as a whole, will lead one team in the next All-Star Game on February 19 in Salt Lake City. The other team’s captain will be Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks, who received the most votes in the Eastern Conference. The NBA has employed a captain system for the All-Star Game for the last six years, and James has participated in every one of them. </p>



<p>In addition to 2019 and 2020, Antetokounmpo now has the honor of serving as captain for a third time. Unlike previous years, when captains choose a week or two in advance of All-Star weekend, this year’s game will include an unannounced twist: the two players will choose their teams in the days leading up to the game. These are the three biggest 2023 NBA All-Star starter snubs, as per&nbsp;<em>CBS Sports.</em></p>



<h2>3. Domantas Sabonis</h2>



<p>Sabonis’s performance with the Kings has been outstanding. His absence results in a ten-point drop in scoring for every hundred possessions for the second-ranked Kings offense, according to CTG.</p>



<p>To add insult to injury, Sabonis has played 45 games to Zion’s 33 and Williamson is expected to miss at least two more weeks. When comparing their loss totals, the Kings are now three games ahead of the Pels.</p>



<h2>2. Anthony Davis</h2>



<p><strong><a href="https://news.thesportsdrop.com/nba/top-3-worst-performing-nba-teams-in-2022-23-20230122-SPD-3342.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Davis</a></strong> has a true shooting percentage of 65.9 and is averaging 27.2 points, 12.1 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per game. The first three statistics are much superior than Zion Williamson’s bests, especially in terms of rebounds and blocks. In terms of TS, the numbers are quite similar.</p>



<p>Even without any other excellent defenders, the Lakers’ defensive rating would be the best in the NBA if Davis were playing. He is the Lakers’ defense, while Zion has improved defensively, but he is more of a byproduct of a successful New Orleans defense than a star in his own right. Davis was, for a while this season, the league’s top performer.</p>



<h2>1. Joel Embiid</h2>



<p>In this situation, Embiid was more deserving of a starting spot than Anteokounmpo was, therefore his exclusion was unjust. Embiid was voted third among frontcourt players by the media and players, behind Tatum and Durant, but he came in at a fourth place in the fan poll, which was won by Giannis. The key distinction lay there.</p>



<p>The notion that the fans are the game’s lifeblood and should have a say in the All-Star Game selection process has some merit, but in this case, the league made a mistake. Embiid outscores Antetokounmpo despite shooting at a far lower percentage from the field.</p>


Joel Embiid and two other biggest 2023 NBA All-Star starter snubs

Joel Embiid and two other biggest 2023 NBA All-Star starter snubs - thesportsdrops NEWS


<p id="block-ea9a0d63-14b7-4edd-9928-0500a0b405bf">With the advent of the <strong><a href="https://news.thesportsdrop.com/nba/top-3-point-guards-for-2022-23-nba-season-20221120-SPD-3175.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NBA</a></strong> in the late 1940s, it became clear that each team required a towering center to have any chance of winning the title. There have been many great centers to play professional basketball in a league that is still expanding after more than 70 years.</p>



<p id="block-b49d11c0-50ee-425a-b398-1634988a7374">The NBA center position has a rich history of prominence. Many teams rely heavily on this position, and it has been filled by some of the game’s all-time greats. Defenders at the center position must focus on protecting the basket and securing offensive boards.</p>



<p id="block-7169e422-77ab-458e-9730-3d49a5190545">This particular position has enjoyed a revival in recent years, and in the previous two seasons, a player of this position was awarded the league’s most valuable player trophy, marking the position’s pinnacle. Thus, big, skilled players are returning to the position in droves. These are the three best centers in the NBA right now, who are still yet to reach those highs, as per&nbsp;<em>NBA.com</em>.</p>



<h2 id="block-368b32b5-0f4e-4e3d-bdea-0f21d24b7ba1">3. Bam Adebayo</h2>



<p id="block-1b672db2-e975-4088-916e-228d8e7adf85">Adebayo’s case for being the top defender in the NBA right now is strong. His absence from 26 games last season cost him the chance to win the league’s Defensive Player of the Year title, which went to Marcus Smart. Adebayo placed in the bottom four. The Heat, who missed out on the NBA Finals by a single game, allowed a league-low 41.3 points per game to be scored in the paint in the 2021-22 season.</p>



<h2 id="block-84a89c52-c99e-4dd3-8146-9756dedb5845">2. Joel Embiid</h2>



<p id="block-881d2fbd-8d80-439b-821c-24a13c9302de">Embiid averaged 30.6% of the team’s points last year, making him the first center to lead the NBA in scoring since Shaquille O’Neal in 1999-2000. He had 13 games where he scored 40 or more points, including his second career 50-point effort, which came on January 19 against the Magic. The concern of whether or not he will be healthy for the playoffs arises every year, since this has not been the case in the previous two seasons.</p>



<h2 id="block-f53ee6d9-9ab6-4798-92af-973c00f4a9d1">1. Nikola Jokic</h2>



<p id="block-c98b9160-c4ae-408d-9932-4b5ce327ea2a">The previous player to win three straight MVP honors was Larry Bird, who did it from 1984 to 1986. After winning the award the last two years in a row, <strong>Jokic</strong> will have a chance to become the third player to do so.</p>



<p id="block-f99eb8ef-55ba-4d28-bd2d-fb596f8c9eec">He is stunning to see, is unstoppable in the post, and is the finest big-man passer in the history of the game. Not only is he shattering the most complex statistics, but he was also the top offensive player in the league last season based on simple box score analysis.</p>


Top 3 centers in 2022-23 NBA season

Top 3 centers in 2022-23 NBA season - thesportsdrops NEWS


<p>Both <strong><a href="https://news.thesportsdrop.com/nba/he-apologized-were-here-to-win-a-championship-jordan-poole-speaks-out-on-draymond-green-controversy-20221017-SPD-2979.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Marcus Smart</a> </strong>and <strong><a href="https://news.thesportsdrop.com/nba/draymond-greens-future-with-warriors-up-in-air-after-andrew-wiggins-and-jordan-poole-extensions-20221015-SPD-2974.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Joel Embiid</a> </strong>have a history of tense encounters with one another, including Smart’s expulsion this year for shoving Embiid in the back, which was one of the numerous altercations between the two players over the course of their careers.</p>



<p>This pattern persisted during the third quarter of the Celtics’ season-opening victory against the 76ers on Tuesday night. It was Smart who went down after absorbing an elbow to the back from Embiid as the two battled for a rebound despite Smart being the one who was called for a foul. In the heated confrontation, Smart accused Embiid of engaging in dirty play.</p>



<p>In the aftermath of the incident, Smart and Jaylen Brown confronted Embiid, prompting a separation between the two groups by teammates and officials. The original calls of a personal foul on Smart and a technical foul were upheld after being reviewed by video.</p>



<h2>What Marcus Smart said of incident with Joel Embiid</h2>



<p><em>“Went for a rebound. Basketball play. Went for the steal. Basketball play. Referee blows his whistle, calls a foul. I stop play, my arm’s still stuck in there and he tries to break it. And then I’m the only one who gets a tech. Everybody saw it. I don’t have to keep talking about it. If I did that, I’m probably ejected, suspended three games, four games, fined.</em></p>



<p><em>“But the fact that I was the only one that got I guess something out of that is kind of beyond me. Especially defending DPOY and that’s how he gets treated. It’s tough. “Like I said, it’s maturity. I could have cracked his head open but I didn’t. And that’s the maturity we have. So we move on from it. It is what it is. And we control what we can control,” </em>said Smart after the game.</p>


Joel Embiid

Top 3 greatest 2023 NBA MVP Award snubs

Top 3 players that might challenge Nikola Jokic for 2023 NBA MVP award

Joel Embiid and two other biggest 2023 NBA All-Star starter snubs

Top 3 centers in 2022-23 NBA season

"My arm’s still stuck in there and he tries to break it" – Marcus Smart rips into Joel Embiid after altercation

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