ESPN’s Tim Bontemps has released the latest results from his mid-season assessment of the NBA MVP race, a 100-person straw poll that mimics the pool of would-be voters for the award. In year’s past, this has served as a useful snapshot for evaluating the state of the MVP race, although certainly things can change between now and the end of the season.
Four members of the Boston Celtics have won NBA MVP honors in the franchise’s history. Superstar forward Jayson Tatum looks like the best candidate to join Bob Cousy, Bill Russell, Dave Cowens, and Larry Bird in raising the trophy wearing Celtics green. According to the latest straw poll data, however, Tatum is a long-shot to win the award this season.
Two-time MVP and reigning Finals MVP Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets leads the way at present. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder is in second place, and received a handful of first place votes. This time last year, Jokic was in second in the race before pulling away and winning the award. Tatum, for now, is sixth in the MVP straw poll.
Celtics Lab 240: On the NBA's postdeadline order and what Boston can still do to get better https://t.co/EBmYfRJlni pic.twitter.com/e7b073A97d
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