By George Efkarpides / info@eurohoops.net
Currently, Kawhi Leonard is the favorite at 4/1 followed by Durant and Lebron James at 9/2 while the reigning MVP, Russel Westbrook is offered at 11/2.
Giannis is the fifth favorite to win the award at 9/1 odds ahead of players like James Harden, Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis.
When Giannis came into the league, everyone recognized his potential mostly due to his physical attributes. As he started to get more minutes during his rookie year, Giannis displayed an incredible understanding of the game, something only the Bucks front office had seen when they originally drafted him.
That alone led to his shift to the point guard position. Jason Kidd put the ball in his hands and trusted him to make the right decisions for himself and his teammates. Ever since the “Greek Freak” has been able to take over the league.
Giannis started growing his game with important minutes in NBA regular season. He put on muscle weight, which helped him maximize his unique body type and made sure the league recognized him with thunderous dunks and exceptional defense on proven NBA stars such as Carmelo Anthony.
A starter in the NBA all-star game last season, Giannis now has even bigger goals and it was one of his idols, Kobe Bryant that showed him the path with his “mamba challenge”.
Currently the fifth favorite for the NBA MVP award, Antetokounmpo needs to grow his game even more. His lone and strong weakness is his 3-point shooting although he did show glimpses of what’s to come averaging 0.6 makes per game on 27% shooting from beyond the arc.
How often do you see a player lead his team in every major statistical category? Last season, he averaged 22.9 points, 5.4 assists, 8.8 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.9 blocks. Not bad for a fourth-year man that is barely scratching the surface.
The ultimate goal for Giannis is to be the best player in the world as he said this summer and he has all the weapons he needs. A coach who was one of the best floor generals in the history of the game, a franchise that loves him and has given him the keys to the organization and the will/desire to make his dreams come true.