In Year 1, Lunar Owls forward Napheesa Collier had an open-and-shut case for MVP. She was the league’s best player on the league’s most dominant team when the season ended. With Collier sidelined, though, the Unrivaled MVP race is more competitive this year. Chelsea Gray, Paige Bueckers, Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Plum and Breanna Stewart each have a credible case, and none are easy to dismiss. Here’s how they stack up heading into the final day of the regular season:
Chelsea Gray, Rose BC
For: She leads Unrivaled in points (25.4) and assists (6.2) per game, ranks second among all guards in points per possession (1.14), and is tied for first in game-winning shots (4). But, toss stats aside. Gray has been the can’t-miss player of the season. In any game, she’s likely to attempt a never-before-seen pass or stage a dramatic comeback. The league is fueled by star power, and Gray has been Unrivaled’s brightest star.
Against: The one nit to pick is the team’s record and point differential: The Rose won’t finish above .500 and have the third-worst point differential in the league. After Gray dropped 38 and hit the game-winning shot against the Laces, though, there aren’t many other holes left to poke in her résumé.
Paige Bueckers, Breeze BC
For: The Breeze are a different team when Bueckers is on the floor: Their net rating swings by 25.9 points per 100 possessions when she sits. (No player other than Breanna Stewart, who often plays with Allisha Gray, has a higher on-off net rating differential.) That’s value in a nutshell. Bueckers has also been efficient, as always, while leading the Breeze to a playoff spot in the team’s inaugural season.
Against: Bueckers falls a hairsbreadth shy of Gray in most statistical categories:
| Gray | Bueckers | |
|---|---|---|
| Points per game | 25.4 (first) | 23.7 (third) |
| Assists per game | 6.2 (first) | 5.8 (second) |
| Rebounds per game | 5.8 (16th) | 6.4 (13th) |
| Steals per game | 1.3 (sixth) | 0.8 (18th) |
| Three-point shooting percentage | 48.0% (second) | 38.8% (12th) |
| Percentage of team points scored | 35.3% (first) | 32.9% (third) |
| Points per possession | 1.4 (third) | 1.1 (eighth) |
| Points generated | 511 (first) | 472 (second) |
It’s no small feat to come into Unrivaled at 24 years old and instantly be one of the league’s three best players. For this season, though, Gray holds a narrow edge over Bueckers.
Aliyah Boston, Phantom BC
For: Boston has been the most dominant big in Unrivaled. She has been terrific on defense: Boston leads the league in blocks (2.2) and stocks (3.2, steals plus blocks) per game, and she has the third best defensive rating (104.3) among forwards. (Only the Laces’ Naz Hillmon and the Breeze’s Cameron Brink rank higher.) Boston has also expanded her game beyond the arc, and her 59.8% effective field goal percentage falls behind only Alyssa Thomas (65.7%) and Chelsea Gray (61.3%). Combined, Boston’s play has helped the Phantom to the league’s best record with one game remaining.
Against: Unlike Gray and Bueckers, Boston has the good fortune of playing next to another MVP candidate. Trying to decide which one of two players deserves more credit for their team’s success isn’t easy, and it’s often the case that both players are equally valuable. Which leads us to…
Kelsey Plum, Phantom BC
For: The corollary to Boston’s case is that the MVP should go to Plum instead. (After all, someone has to be feeding Boston.) Plum ranks first in points created per offensive possession (0.71), meaning no one generates more points for their team while on the court. She is also tied for the league lead in game-winners (4) and ranks third (3.81, behind Veronica Burton and Jordin Canada) in assist-to-turnover ratio.
Against: The same logic that cuts against Boston’s case also applies to Plum. Neither Gray nor Bueckers plays with a big that’s been as dominant as Boston has been. (The Rose’s Shakira Austin has been great, but not MVP-level.) It’s also hard to argue that Plum has been clearly better than either Gray or Bueckers.
Breanna Stewart, Mist BC
For: Stewart’s season has flown under the radar, but it’s hard to separate how good the Mist have been from how Stewie has played. She has the highest net rating (+20.3) and on-off net rating differential (+28.4) of any player in the league. Stewart has also been a core part of the best lineup (with Allisha Gray and Arike Ogunbowale) and the fourth best lineup (with Gray and Burton) by net rating in Unrivaled. On an individual level, fewer of her points are assisted compared to Boston’s, which means she’s generating more offense on her own. The Mist have the league’s best point differential for a reason (+99).
Against: Notice how Allisha Gray’s name keeps popping up next to Stewart’s? When lineup stats are so entangled with another teammate, it’s hard to use those measures as the main argument for why one player deserves an MVP nod over another—especially when Gray has also been lights out. She has the third-most 20-point games (8) and the third-most 30-point games (2) in Unrivaled, and she ranks first in points per possession (1.16). Stewart and Gray have a stronger case to be considered the league’s best tandem than either of them does to be named MVP individually.
Final verdict
Chelsea Gray has the cleanest case. The Point Gawd is more than deserving of winning Unrivaled’s MVP award this season.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Who Should Be Unrivaled’s MVP? The Case For and Against Every Contender.
