Who Was This Year’s NBA MVP?
Contents
The NBA MVP is one of the most coveted awards in basketball. Each year, the best players in the league compete for the honor, and this year was no different.
So, who was this year’s NBA MVP? Keep reading to find out!
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks was this year’s NBA MVP. He is a six foot eleven inches tall, Greek professional basketball player. He led the Bucks to the best record in the NBA and is the first European player to be named MVP.
His Regular Season Stats
Giannis Antetokounmpo averaged 29.5 points, 13.6 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.3 blocks per game during the 2018-19 NBA regular season. He shot 58.8 percent from the field, 30.7 percent from three-point range and 72.9 percent from the free-throw line. He also led the league in minutes per game (38), while finishing second in points per game and fourth in rebounds per game and steals per game.
His Post-Season Stats
In the post-season, Antetokounmpo continued to excel. He averaged 27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. His Player Efficiency Rating (PER) of 32.4 was the highest in the playoffs, and his plus-minus rating of +279 was by far the best in the NBA. Giannis also led the league in win shares (9.7) and box plus/minus (11).
James Harden
This year’s NBA MVP was James Harden. He was born on August 26, 1989, in Los Angeles, CA. He is an American professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Arizona State University, where he was named a consensus first-team All-American and Pac-10 Player of the Year in 2009.
His Regular Season Stats
In the 2018-19 season, Harden appeared in 78 games and played 36.8 minutes per game. He averaged 36.1 points, 6.6 assists, 2.0 steals and 5.4 rebounds per game. He shot 44.2 percent from the field, 37.2 percent from three-point range and 85.8 percent from the free throw line. He led the league in scoring for the second consecutive year and was second in made three-pointers (321).
His Post-Season Stats
This year, James Harden had some incredible games during the post-season. He averaged 36.1 points per game, 7.5 assists per game, and 6.6 rebounds per game. He shot 44.2% from the field and 37.5% from three-point range. In the Western Conference Finals, he particularly shined against the Golden State Warriors.
Anthony Davis
The 2020 NBA Most Valuable Player Award goes to Los Angeles Lakers power forward/center Anthony Davis. Davis had a stellar year, helping lead the Lakers to the best record in the Western Conference. He averaged 27.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game, and was a big reason why the Lakers were one of the best defensive teams in the league.
His Regular Season Stats
This season, Davis averaged 27.7 points per game, 9.7 rebounds per game, 3.5 assists per game, 2.4 blocks per game, and 1.6 steals per game. He shot 50.8% from the field, 34.9% from three-point range, and 85% from the free throw line.
His Post-Season Stats
Davis’s performance in the post-season was nothing short of extraordinary. He averaged 34.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 2.2 blocks, and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 53.7 percent from the field and 34.9 percent from three-point range. In the process, he became just the fourth player in NBA history to average at least 34 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists in a post-season, joining Michael Jordan (1989), LeBron James (2009), and Kevin Durant (2014). He also set an NBA record for most points in a playoff debut with 42 against the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 1 of the first round.
Kawhi Leonard
Kawhi Leonard of the Toronto Raptors was this year’s NBA MVP. Leonard averaged 26.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game. He shot 49.6 percent from the field and 37.1 percent from three-point range. Leonard was also a key player for the Raptors on the defensive end of the court.
His Regular Season Stats
Kawhi Leonard had an excellent regular season, averaging 27.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 3 assists per game. He shot 49% from the field, 37% from three-point range, and 85% from the free-throw line. He was also a very good defensive player, averaging 1.8 steals and 0.7 blocks per game.
His Post-Season Stats
Kawhi Leonard had an incredible post-season run this year, averaging 30.5 points per game, 9.1 rebounds, and 3.9 assists. He shot an impressive 49.6% from the field, and was a key part of the Toronto Raptors’ success in the playoffs. He was named the NBA Finals MVP for his efforts in leading the Raptors to their first ever NBA Championship.
LeBron James
LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers was this year’s NBA MVP. He averaged 25.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 10.2 assists per game. He led the Lakers to the best record in the Western Conference and was named to the All-NBA First Team.
His Regular Season Stats
LeBron James is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest basketball players of all time. James has won four NBA Most Valuable Player Awards, four NBA Finals MVP Awards, and two Olympic gold medals.
During his seventeen-year career, James has been named to fifteen All-NBA teams and sixteen All-Defensive teams. He has also led the league in scoring, assists, and steals. As of 2019, he is the NBA’s all-time leader in assists per game (9.2) and second in steals per game (2.2). In 2020, he was voted unanimously as the NBA All-Star game MVP after earning his record-tying fourth All-Star MVP award.
In his first season with the Lakers, James averaged 27.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, 8.3 assists, and 1.2 steals per game. He was named an All-Star for the seventeenth time in his career and was also voted as the All-Star Game MVP for the third time.
His Post-Season Stats
Although his stats weren’t as high as they were in previous seasons, LeBron James was still MVP-worthy this year. He averaged 27.4 points, 8.5 rebounds and 9.1 assists per game during the regular season, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to the best record in the Western Conference.
In the playoffs, James averaged 27.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and 8.0 assists per game as the Lakers advanced to the NBA Finals. In the Finals, against the Miami Heat, James averaged 29.8 points, 11.0 rebounds and 8.5 assists per game as the Lakers won the series in six games. For his accomplishments this season, James was named MVP of both the regular season and the Finals.
