By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
2023 EuroLeague MVP Sasha Vezenkov gives his vote to AS Monaco superstar Mike James as the one to win the award this season. Vezenkov was named MVP last year as a player of Olympiacos Piraeus before moving to the NBA with the Sacramento Kings.
“The way I see things, I think it’s Mike James’ time to win MVP,” Vezenkov told Eurohoops’ Michalis Stefanou. “He became the EuroLeague all-time scoring leader also. There’s also Facu Campazzo obviously but he hasn’t really stood out in the recent games.”
James is so far the leading scorer in the EuroLeague with 19.0 points. He also has 5.0 assists and 4.4 rebounds while Monaco is tied with Panathinaikos Athens and Barcelona for the second-best record in the standings.
Last year and during the last stretch of the EuroLeague regular season, then reigning MVP Nikola Mirotic said that Vezenkov is the one who should take the crown. A few months after his endorsement, the Bulgarian forward was officially named the MVP during the Final Four festivities in Kaunas.
It remains to be seen if Vezenkov’s prediction also comes true for this season. Though there are some other players on the table still.
“If Virtus Bologna was higher in the standings, Toko Shengelia could also enter the conversation,” Vezenkov added. “I don’t know Mathias Lessort’s numbers exactly but he’s having a season that’s as good as his previous one, if not better.”