For ten years now, DNA of Sports has been offering you its Top 5 candidates for the “Most Valuable Player (MVP)” trophy every Tuesday. Like last season, Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic are struggling at the top of our race, with Giannis Antetokounmpo which is not far behind.
Beyond being all three interiors, Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo have another common point of being all non-Americans. They are therefore considered international players in the eyes of the league and they could simply be the very first 100% international podium in history, as far as this MVP title is concerned. One year after having already been part of the Top 5.
It is still necessary that DeMar DeRozan, Stephen Curry, Ja Morant even Devin Booker (because Chris Paul is injured) do not come to interfere between them…
David Stern, the trigger
But the current dominance of Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo (not to mention Luka Doncic or Rudy Gobert) proves once again, if it were necessary to do so, that the NBA has gradually become ” a global game (understand a world league). And, this, more particularly since the seizure of power of David Stern in 1984, instead of Larry O’Brien.
Passed away in January 2020, this visionary will remain as the commission at the origin of the opening of the Great League to the world. Especially from the moment he decided to send a certain “Dream Team” to the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992…
Since the 1990s, therefore, the NBA’s international exposure has continued to grow, to be broadcast today in no less than 215 countries around the world and to be heard in no less than 60 different languages.
In terms of play, this internationalization of the league is also reflected in the presence, for eight consecutive seasons, of at least 100 “foreign” players in the NBA (excluding “two-way contracts”). Canadians, Australians, French, Germans, Nigerians, Serbs, Spaniards, Turks: all come from around forty countries and contribute to this growth of the Great League, beyond its own borders.
An inverted balance of power?
Inevitably, with such a number of international players in its ranks, which has continued to increase, the NBA could only see them begin to approach the level of its best elements, exclusively Americans, over the years.
And while Hakeem Olajuwon, Dikembe Mutombo, Yao Ming, Pau Gasol, Tony Parker, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki and other Manu Ginobili tried to overthrow the established order, we can now legitimately think that the balance of power between international players and US players is reversed.
For five years, we have noticed in particular that individual trophies have fallen more regularly into the hands of foreigners: “Rookie of the year” for Ben Simmons (2018) and Luka Doncic (2019), “Defensive Player of the year” for Rudy Gobert (2018, 2019, 2021) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (2020), “Most Improved Player” for Giannis Antetokounmpo (2017) and Pascal Siakam (2019)…
Without forgetting the most prestigious of all, that of MVP of course, which has landed in the hands of a European for three years, with Giannis Antetokounmpo (2019, 2020) then Nikola Jokic (2021). And who could land soon in those of an African, and Joel Embiid, current leader of our race for the “Most Valuable Player” 2022.
Especially since Giannis Antetokounmpo, the natural and legitimate leader of this takeover of international players, allowed himself as a bonus to become, last year, the fourth non-American (after Hakeem Olajuwon, Tony Parker and Dirk Nowitzki) and the first non-American to win the titles of Finals MVP and All-Star Game MVP.
Better still: between appearances in the “All-NBA teams” or “All-Defensive teams” (10 in 2021, out of 25 possible places) and appearances at the various All-Star Weekend events (17 in 2022, out of 73 possible places) , foreign players never cease to overshadow Americans, while they are about five times less represented than them in the NBA landscape.
These International Players Finished Top 5 MVPs
1986 – Hakeem Olajuwon (4)
1989 – Hakeem Olajuwon (5)
1993 – Hakeem Olajuwon (2)
1994 – Hakeem Olajuwon (1)
1995 – Hakeem Olajuwon (5)
1996 – Hakeem Olajuwon (4)
2004 – Peja Stojakovic (4)
2005 – Steve Nash (1)Dirk Nowitzki (3)
2006 – Steve Nash (1)Dirk Nowitzki (3)
2007 – Dirk Nowitzky (1)Steve Nash (2)
2012 – TONY PARKER (5)
2014 – JOAKIM NOAH (4)
2019 – Giannis Antetokounmpo (1)Nikola Jokic (4)
2020 – Giannis Antetokounmpo (1)Luka Doncic (4)
2021 – Nikola Jokic (1)Joel Embiid (2), Giannis Antetokounmpo (4)
These international players finished MVP of the Finals
1994 – Hakeem Olajuwon
1995 – Hakeem Olajuwon
2007 – Tony Parker
2011 – Dirk Nowitzki
2021 – Giannis Antetokounmpo
Next step: shine collectively
Of course, LeBron James remains the league’s ambassador. But it wouldn’t be surprising to see Giannis Antetokounmpo or Luka Doncic succeed him in the years to come. On the one hand, the strong winger of the Bucks has the advantage of having a record that speaks for him. On the other hand, the leader of the Mavericks seems to have this prodigious side, a kind of aura, a status of “Chosen One” (the Chosen One), as the “King” of the Lakers could have had in his debut.
But Dallas’ market size isn’t the same as Milwaukee’s, which could benefit Doncic, who will mostly find himself at the peak of his career when James is (logically) retired. While Antetokounmpo will be 30 years old, or very close to it, and thus possibly less dominating.
It now remains to be seen whether the NBA, historically conservative at this level, is ready to entrust its keys to an international, and therefore non-American, player. It would be a real revolution, because the face of the Great League has always been an American, whether it’s Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant or today’s LeBron James.
However, would it really be absurd to see a foreign player become the headliner of the NBA? The answer is no because, individually, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic now have nothing to envy to LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, James Harden and Kawhi Leonard. Collectively, however, they will have to begin to triumph in order to earn the respect of their peers in the United States.
Good news: Giannis Antetokounmpo has finally succeeded in 2021, no doubt opening the door to his international comrades who, for the time being, are content to raid the individual awards. But this is already a major change, compared to before…
1 – Joel Embiid (Sixers)
Assessment: 35 wins, 23 losses – 3rd in the East.
Matches: 46 disputed out of 58 possible.
Statistics: 29.6 pts, 11.2 reb, 4.5 pds, 1.0 int, 1.4 ctr and 3.0 pdb in 33 min.
Percentages: 50% on shots, 37% on 3-pts and 81% on throws.
2 – Nikola Jokic (Nuggets)
Assessment: 33 wins, 25 losses – 6th in the West.
Matches: 52 disputed out of 58 possible.
Statistics: 26.0 pts, 13.8 reb, 7.9 pds, 1.3 int, 0.7 ctr and 3.8 pdb in 33 min.
Percentages: 57% shooting, 37% 3-point and 81% throwing.
3 – DeMar DeRozan (Bulls)
Assessment: 38 wins, 21 losses – 2nd in the East.
Matches: 55 disputed out of 59 possible.
Statistics: 28.1 pts, 5.2 reb, 5.1 pds, 0.9 int, 0.3 ctr and 2.3 pdb in 36 min.
Percentages: 52% on shots, 34% at 3-pts and 87% on throws.
4 – Chris Paul (Suns)
Assessment: 48 wins, 10 losses – 1st in the West.
Matches: 58 disputed out of 58 possible.
Statistics: 14.9 pts, 4.5 reb, 10.7 ft, 1.9 int, 0.3 ctr and 2.4 ft in 33 min.
Percentages: 49% on shots, 33% at 3-pts and 84% on throws.
5 – Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
Assessment: 36 wins, 24 losses – 5th in the East.
Matches: 49 disputed out of 60 possible.
Statistics: 29.4 pts, 11.2 reb, 6.0 pds, 1.0 int, 1.4 ctr and 3.3 pdb in 33 min.
Percentages: 55% shooting, 31% 3-pt and 72% throwing.
Mentions : Stephen Curry (Warriors), Devin Booker (Suns), Ja Morant (Grizzlies), Luka Doncic (Mavericks)…
