Latest NBA MVP straw poll suggests Tatum faces an uphill battle originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Jayson Tatum is the best player on the best team in basketball, but he’ll need to raise his game considerably to capture the 2022-23 NBA MVP award.
ESPN’s Tim Bontemps recently published his second NBA MVP straw poll of the season, which asked 100 media members to submit a five-player ballot in a poll that closely mimics the actual award voting process.
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While Tatum was the front-runner in ESPN’s first MVP straw poll in mid-December, the Boston Celtics star has slid to fourth entering the All-Star break. Here’s a look at the top five MVP candidates in Bontemps’ straw poll, as well as where they ranked in December:
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Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets (Previous rank: 5)
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Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks (2)
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Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers (10)
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Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics (1)
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Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks (3)
Jokic, Antetokounmpo and Embiid have all vaulted Tatum in the eyes of media members, with Embiid making the biggest jump from 10th to third. But if these results are any indication, the MVP is Jokic’s to lose.
The Nuggets big man received a whopping 77 first-place votes, compared to just 11 for Antetokounmpo, six for Embiid, five for Tatum and one for Doncic. Jokic is averaging a triple-double (24.7 points, 11.5 rebounds and 10.1 assists per game) for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and appears on pace to become just the fourth player in NBA history to win three consecutive MVP awards. (Boston Celtics legends Bill Russell and Larry Bird and Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain are the other three.)
Tatum is enjoying a stellar season in his own right, averaging career highs in points (30.6), rebounds (8.6) and assists (4.5) per game while ranking sixth in the NBA in 3-pointers made (183). If he continues his current pace, he should earn First-Team All-NBA honors and could crack the top three in MVP voting if the Celtics finish with the NBA’s best record.
Unless Jokic regresses significantly down the stretch, however, it seems highly unlikely that Tatum will become the first Celtics player since Bird to win NBA MVP. We’d imagine he prefers the Larry O’Brien Trophy, anyway.
