NBA Hoops

MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and more

MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and more

(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

The 2021-22 NBA regular season is now complete. It’s time to cast our annual award ballots here at The Sixer Sense. These ballots are not official and have no bearing on the eventual outcome, but it’s always fun to sift through the rubble of another bonkers, ceaselessly entertaining NBA season. There are too many award contenders to count, but we’ve done our best.

Joining me to cast his ballot is my co-site expert Lucas Johnson. The Sixers have several contenders here — Joel Embiid for MVP and All-Defense, Tyrese Maxey for Most Improved, James Harden for All-NBA, Matisse Thybulle for All-Defense, Paul Reed for MVP (fine, fine, scratch the last one). How many did we pick?

NBA award ballots: MVP

Christopher Kline

Nikola Jokic, DENJoel Embiid, PHIGiannis Antetokounmpo, MILDevin Booker, PHX Luka Doncic, DAL

This has been a particularly difficult MVP debate to sift through. There have been plenty of bad-faith arguments on every side of the fence, and no fanbase appears willing to admit the one simple truth: Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, and Giannis Antetokounmpo all had historic, MVP-worthy seasons, and in a less aberrational year, all three would be runaway favorites.

At the end of the day, Jokic should probably win his second MVP award. He’s the most efficient three-level scorer in basketball, one of the truly great passers of his generation, and a much better defender than he gets credit for. The “he only impacts one side of the game” argument no longer stands. Obviously, Embiid is the most dominant and forceful scorer in the NBA and a damn good defensive anchor. Giannis could justifiably win Defensive Player of the Year, and the Bucks are better than both Philadelphia and Denver. All three have strong cases, but Jokic is my pick.

Lucas Johnson

Joel Embiid, PHINikola Jokic, DENGiannis Antetokounmpo, MILDevin Booker, PHXDeMar DeRozan, CHI

Figuring out the awards this season was pretty tough compared to other years. Let’s…

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