His season may have ended earlier than he hoped it would, but Giannis Antetokounmpo will still be joining some of the greatest champions in NBA History.
On Friday, the NBA announced that Antetokounmpo has been named the Most Valuable Player for the 2019-20 NBA season.
Selected with the 15th overall pick of the 2013 NBA Draft, after winning the award last season, Antetokounmpo becomes the 12th player in NBA History to be named Most Valuable Player in back-to-back years. He also became the third player in history — joining Hakeem Olajuwon and Michaeel Jordan — to win MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season.
For the majority of the season, the Most Valuable Player Award was believed to be a two-horse race between Antetokounmpo and LeBron James. In the end, Giannis won the award in a landslide, receiving 85 of 101 first-place votes and amassing 962 points. James received the other 16 first-place votes but only totaled 753 points.
Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, the Thunder’s Chris Paul received 12 MVP votes — three third-place votes, one fourth-place vote and eight fifth-place votes.
In the end, Paul finished seventh in voting, finishing behind Antetokounmpo, James, James Harden, Luka Doncic, Kawhi Leonard and Anthony Davis, who finished as the top six vote-getters, respectively.
Under normal circumstances, finishing seventh wouldn’t be anything to celebrate, but for Paul, the accomplishment probably has special meaning considering the fact that his perceived stock was incredibly low as recently as last summer.
Despite the fact that his future with the Thunder is uncertain, Paul has effectively reminded the NBA that he still has some gas left in his tank. For the 35-year-old point guard, seven has become his MVP lucky number — this season is the seventh time in his career that he finished in the top seven, with his highest finish coming in 2008 when he lost the award to Kobe Bryant after a very competitive vote.
With or without a decent showing in the MVP race, Paul proved a lot this past season. He still has a lot to offer a team that may be missing a piece or two, but the return he can fetch if the Thunder opt to move him remains a mystery.
