WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.740 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today we are clearing 00:00:02.740 --> 00:00:05.219 off the table, putting away the minor stats, 00:00:05.599 --> 00:00:09.960 and we are tackling the big one. The big one. 00:00:10.080 --> 00:00:12.980 We have a stack of research here that feels a 00:00:12.980 --> 00:00:15.380 little heavier than usual because we aren't just 00:00:15.380 --> 00:00:17.760 looking at basketball statistics today. We're 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:21.120 looking at immortality. That is not an exaggeration 00:00:21.120 --> 00:00:23.739 at all. I mean, when you look at the list of 00:00:23.739 --> 00:00:26.059 names we are about to discuss, you are looking 00:00:26.059 --> 00:00:28.260 at the pantheon. We are talking, of course, about 00:00:28.260 --> 00:00:32.039 the... NBA Most Valuable Player Award, the MVP. 00:00:32.340 --> 00:00:34.159 Yep. And right off the bat, I want to define 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:36.399 the scope here because I feel like casual fans 00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:39.159 often get this mixed up with, you know, the finals 00:00:39.159 --> 00:00:42.159 MVP or the all star MVP. Right. It's a totally 00:00:42.159 --> 00:00:44.179 different beast. This isn't about who had a good 00:00:44.179 --> 00:00:46.399 week in June. This isn't about who got hot in 00:00:46.399 --> 00:00:48.219 an exhibition game. This is the marathon award. 00:00:48.380 --> 00:00:50.820 It absolutely is. This is the award that says 00:00:50.820 --> 00:00:54.219 for six months from October to April, night in 00:00:54.219 --> 00:00:56.679 and night out through injuries, road trips and 00:00:56.679 --> 00:00:59.439 back to backs. I was better than anyone else 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:01.840 on the planet. It measures sustained excellence. 00:01:02.299 --> 00:01:05.840 over an 82 -game span, it is, I think, the ultimate 00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:08.319 test of a basketball player's consistency and 00:01:08.319 --> 00:01:10.379 dominance. And the timing for this deep dive 00:01:10.379 --> 00:01:13.640 is actually perfect because the landscape of 00:01:13.640 --> 00:01:16.120 the league has shifted right under our feet. 00:01:16.280 --> 00:01:18.379 It really has. We are recording this in the wake 00:01:18.379 --> 00:01:21.540 of the 2024 -25 season, and we have a new king 00:01:21.540 --> 00:01:24.420 on the throne. The current holder of the award 00:01:24.420 --> 00:01:27.340 is Shai Gilgis Alexander of the Oklahoma City 00:01:27.340 --> 00:01:29.939 Thunder. Which is a massive moment. I mean, it 00:01:29.939 --> 00:01:31.879 marks a changing of the guard, not just for the 00:01:31.879 --> 00:01:34.079 Thunder franchise, but for the whole profile 00:01:34.079 --> 00:01:36.859 of the player who wins this thing. How so? Well, 00:01:37.019 --> 00:01:39.890 Shai is a guard. He's Canadian and he plays with 00:01:39.890 --> 00:01:42.609 a pace and a style that is very, very different 00:01:42.609 --> 00:01:45.670 from the big man dominance we saw in the few 00:01:45.670 --> 00:01:47.530 years right before him with Jokic and Embiid. 00:01:47.670 --> 00:01:49.489 That's a great point. So our mission today is 00:01:49.489 --> 00:01:51.109 to unpack all of this. We aren't just going to 00:01:51.109 --> 00:01:53.409 read a list of winners. No, that would be boring. 00:01:53.530 --> 00:01:55.569 We're going to unpack the history, the weird 00:01:55.569 --> 00:01:57.650 voting anomalies, the stuff that makes you go, 00:01:57.769 --> 00:02:00.049 wait, what? And the evolution of the hardware 00:02:00.049 --> 00:02:01.790 itself. And we have to talk about the new rules. 00:02:01.969 --> 00:02:03.930 Oh, absolutely. We're going to look at how the 00:02:03.930 --> 00:02:07.510 rules have changed, specifically the new 65 games. 00:02:07.530 --> 00:02:10.550 threshold that is literally disqualifying legends 00:02:10.550 --> 00:02:13.590 from contention and what this award tells us 00:02:13.590 --> 00:02:16.419 about the changing face of the league. It really 00:02:16.419 --> 00:02:19.319 is a fascinating lens to view the NBA through, 00:02:19.400 --> 00:02:21.539 because when you track the history of the MVP, 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:24.659 you are really tracking the history of how we 00:02:24.659 --> 00:02:28.659 as fans and media value basketball. That's it 00:02:28.659 --> 00:02:30.979 right there. The definition of value. You see 00:02:30.979 --> 00:02:33.060 the shift from raw stats to winning. You see 00:02:33.060 --> 00:02:35.439 it go from centers to guards. And like we just 00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:38.080 mentioned with Shy, from a purely American game 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:41.000 to a global phenomenon. OK, so let's start with 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:43.560 the physical object. The hardware. Because for 00:02:43.560 --> 00:02:45.960 decades, if you were the absolute best player 00:02:45.960 --> 00:02:48.379 in the world, the league handed you the Maurice 00:02:48.379 --> 00:02:50.879 Putiloff trophy. That's right. The Putiloff. 00:02:51.020 --> 00:02:52.919 A name that, let's be honest, doesn't exactly 00:02:52.919 --> 00:02:55.939 scream, basketball superstar. Not at all. I mean, 00:02:55.939 --> 00:02:58.139 be honest. If you walked into a sports bar in, 00:02:58.180 --> 00:03:01.340 say, 2015 and asked 100 diehard fans who Maurice 00:03:01.340 --> 00:03:03.639 Putiloff was, how many are getting that right? 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:05.860 Oh, maybe two. And they probably work for the 00:03:05.860 --> 00:03:08.259 league office or are just extreme history buffs. 00:03:08.539 --> 00:03:10.990 So who was he? Maurice Potiloff was the first 00:03:10.990 --> 00:03:13.210 commissioner of the NBA, though back then his 00:03:13.210 --> 00:03:15.569 title was actually president. He served from 00:03:15.569 --> 00:03:19.349 1946 all the way to 1963. He was an administrator, 00:03:19.650 --> 00:03:24.370 a lawyer, a bureaucrat. Which feels a little 00:03:24.370 --> 00:03:27.110 dry, doesn't it? Congratulations on being the 00:03:27.110 --> 00:03:29.849 most athletic, dominant, high -flying force in 00:03:29.849 --> 00:03:32.590 the world. Here is a statue named after a lawyer 00:03:32.590 --> 00:03:34.569 who probably couldn't dribble with his left hand. 00:03:35.490 --> 00:03:38.919 Yeah. It feels like a disconnect. It was certainly 00:03:38.919 --> 00:03:41.340 a product of its time. I mean, in the early days, 00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:43.800 honoring the administrative founder made sense 00:03:43.800 --> 00:03:46.240 to the people running the league. But as the 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:48.639 game grew into this massive global entertainment 00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:52.199 product, that disconnect became glaring. The 00:03:52.199 --> 00:03:54.300 trophy didn't match the energy of the achievement. 00:03:54.479 --> 00:03:56.800 So the league finally made a move. In the 2022 00:03:56.800 --> 00:04:00.580 -23 season, they announced a massive rebranding 00:04:00.580 --> 00:04:03.520 of the major awards. They retired the Podolov 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:06.360 name from the MVP trophy and introduced the Michael 00:04:06.360 --> 00:04:08.919 Jordan trophy. Which, let's be real, just makes 00:04:08.919 --> 00:04:10.919 a lot more sense. It's a no -brainer. You win 00:04:10.919 --> 00:04:14.460 the MVP, you get the trophy named after the guy 00:04:14.460 --> 00:04:17.540 who is widely considered the gold standard of 00:04:17.540 --> 00:04:20.360 basketball excellence. Michael Jordan won the 00:04:20.360 --> 00:04:22.500 award five times, which we will definitely get 00:04:22.500 --> 00:04:25.120 into. But his name is just synonymous with the 00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:28.360 concept of value and winning. I've seen photos 00:04:28.360 --> 00:04:30.300 of the new trophy, and it's pretty intricate. 00:04:30.360 --> 00:04:32.199 It's not just a guy playing basketball. There's 00:04:32.199 --> 00:04:34.660 symbolism there, right? There is, yeah. It's 00:04:34.660 --> 00:04:37.500 a bronze figure breaking out of a rock, reaching 00:04:37.500 --> 00:04:40.779 for a crystal basketball. It's meant to symbolize 00:04:40.779 --> 00:04:42.939 the struggle to reach the pinnacle. I like that. 00:04:43.160 --> 00:04:45.680 But what I love about this rebrand is that they 00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:47.949 didn't just erase history. They didn't just, 00:04:47.970 --> 00:04:50.269 you know, kick Maurice Podoloff out of the history 00:04:50.269 --> 00:04:52.769 books entirely. They just reshuffled him. Exactly. 00:04:52.769 --> 00:04:55.449 They moved him to where he belongs, the front 00:04:55.449 --> 00:04:58.129 office. So his name is still on a trophy. Yep. 00:04:58.189 --> 00:05:00.689 The Maurice Podoloff name was attached to a new 00:05:00.689 --> 00:05:03.129 trophy that is awarded to the team with the best 00:05:03.129 --> 00:05:05.790 regular season record. Ah, that is such a tidy 00:05:05.790 --> 00:05:08.230 bit of housekeeping. That's perfect. The administrator 00:05:08.230 --> 00:05:10.449 is attached to the organizational achievement, 00:05:10.649 --> 00:05:14.069 the team record. And the player's name is attached 00:05:14.069 --> 00:05:17.759 to the individual achievement. It is a very logical, 00:05:17.879 --> 00:05:21.000 very clean alignment. It puts the player power 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:23.759 with the players. Speaking of player power, let's 00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:25.740 talk about who actually decides this thing, because 00:05:25.740 --> 00:05:27.639 I think a lot of listeners assume it's always 00:05:27.639 --> 00:05:30.660 been sports writers in fedoras smoking cigars 00:05:30.660 --> 00:05:32.939 in a press box. Right, the classic image. But 00:05:32.939 --> 00:05:34.800 the voting process has gone through some wild 00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:37.439 changes. It has basically had three distinct 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:41.050 eras. And the first era, phase one, might be 00:05:41.050 --> 00:05:43.050 the most fascinating psychological experiment 00:05:43.050 --> 00:05:45.910 in sports history. Okay, I'm intrigued. From 00:05:45.910 --> 00:05:49.290 the inception of the award in 1955 -56 until 00:05:49.290 --> 00:05:53.810 the 1979 -80 season, the MVP wasn't picked by 00:05:53.810 --> 00:05:55.569 the media. Who picked it? It was picked by the 00:05:55.569 --> 00:05:58.730 players. The players voted. Yes, the peers. The 00:05:58.730 --> 00:06:00.430 guys you were battling against every single night 00:06:00.430 --> 00:06:02.529 were the ones filling out the ballot. Now, on 00:06:02.529 --> 00:06:04.329 the surface, that sounds like the ultimate sign 00:06:04.329 --> 00:06:08.019 of respect. Game recognizes game. Who knows who 00:06:08.019 --> 00:06:10.139 is harder to guard than the guy trying to guard 00:06:10.139 --> 00:06:12.879 him? That is the romantic view of it, for sure. 00:06:13.540 --> 00:06:17.779 And in some cases, it was true. But we have to 00:06:17.779 --> 00:06:20.300 remember, these are human beings. They have rivalries. 00:06:20.300 --> 00:06:22.399 They have beefs. They have jealousy. A lot of 00:06:22.399 --> 00:06:24.639 jealousy. So you're saying it got petty. Oh, 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:26.980 it got incredibly petty. There is a famous example 00:06:26.980 --> 00:06:31.100 involving Oscar Robertson. In the 1961 -62 season, 00:06:31.319 --> 00:06:34.699 Oscar Robertson became the first player to average 00:06:34.699 --> 00:06:37.120 a triple -double for an entire season. The first 00:06:37.120 --> 00:06:40.480 ever. 30 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists. Unheard 00:06:40.480 --> 00:06:42.279 of. It was like a video game stat line in real 00:06:42.279 --> 00:06:45.319 life. And he won MVP, surely. He finished third. 00:06:45.480 --> 00:06:48.180 Third. You're kidding me. Who won? Bill Russell 00:06:48.180 --> 00:06:50.339 won it, and Wilt Chamberlain was second. Now, 00:06:50.439 --> 00:06:53.759 look, Russell and Wilt had amazing seasons, but 00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:56.180 there is a very strong historical argument that 00:06:56.180 --> 00:07:00.449 Oscar just rubbed people the wrong way. Ah. He 00:07:00.449 --> 00:07:02.790 was tough. He was outspoken. He was the head 00:07:02.790 --> 00:07:04.769 of the Players Association. He wasn't necessarily 00:07:04.769 --> 00:07:07.149 the most popular guy in the locker room. So the 00:07:07.149 --> 00:07:09.529 player vote could sometimes be a popularity contest. 00:07:09.870 --> 00:07:11.810 Or an unpopularity contest. That's a better way 00:07:11.810 --> 00:07:13.870 to put it. I'm not voting for that guy. He elbowed 00:07:13.870 --> 00:07:15.870 me in the throat last Tuesday. That makes total 00:07:15.870 --> 00:07:18.209 sense. So the league saw this happening, this 00:07:18.209 --> 00:07:21.350 kind of bias. Precisely. So seeing these biases, 00:07:21.589 --> 00:07:23.730 the league decided to make a change. Starting 00:07:23.730 --> 00:07:27.860 in the 1981 season, we entered phase two. The 00:07:27.860 --> 00:07:30.180 media era. And that's when the writers take over. 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:33.079 The power shifted to a panel of sports writers 00:07:33.079 --> 00:07:35.279 and broadcasters across the United States and 00:07:35.279 --> 00:07:38.500 Canada. Presumably to get a more objective, bird's 00:07:38.500 --> 00:07:40.360 eye view of the league. That was the intent. 00:07:40.560 --> 00:07:43.220 To remove the direct interpersonal conflict of 00:07:43.220 --> 00:07:46.079 the locker room. Writers, in theory, are watching 00:07:46.079 --> 00:07:48.759 all the games, analyzing the narratives, and 00:07:48.759 --> 00:07:51.139 looking at the stats without the personal baggage 00:07:51.139 --> 00:07:53.360 of having to guard the guy. But even that has 00:07:53.360 --> 00:07:55.740 its flaws, right? We talk about East Coast bias 00:07:55.740 --> 00:07:58.300 or writers favoring the guys who give good interviews. 00:07:58.560 --> 00:08:01.180 It certainly isn't perfect. Narratives play a 00:08:01.180 --> 00:08:04.519 huge role in the media vote. A huge role. If 00:08:04.519 --> 00:08:06.600 a player has a great story, a comeback, a new 00:08:06.600 --> 00:08:08.680 team, a redemption arc, writers eat that up. 00:08:08.980 --> 00:08:11.600 But generally, it did stabilize the voting criteria. 00:08:11.939 --> 00:08:13.519 And then they added another wrinkle recently. 00:08:13.620 --> 00:08:16.480 The fans got a voice. Just a whisper of a voice, 00:08:16.519 --> 00:08:18.360 but yes. Okay, what do you mean by that? Well, 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:21.019 starting in 2010, the league introduced Phase 00:08:21.019 --> 00:08:24.439 3. the fan element. It allows for one single 00:08:24.439 --> 00:08:26.959 ballot representing the collective online fan 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:30.720 vote to be cast. Wait, wait. One ballot. So millions 00:08:30.720 --> 00:08:33.059 of people screaming on Twitter and Reddit, clicking 00:08:33.059 --> 00:08:35.720 buttons on the NBA website. That all counts as 00:08:35.720 --> 00:08:38.490 one guy. One guy. It's almost entirely symbolic. 00:08:38.509 --> 00:08:40.870 It engages the fan base. It makes them feel involved. 00:08:41.190 --> 00:08:43.549 But it doesn't really swing the election. Yeah. 00:08:43.649 --> 00:08:45.750 You need a really, really close race for that 00:08:45.750 --> 00:08:48.250 one vote to matter. Exactly. Okay. So we know 00:08:48.250 --> 00:08:51.149 who votes, but we need to unpack how they vote. 00:08:51.309 --> 00:08:53.190 Because this isn't a pick one winner system, 00:08:53.250 --> 00:08:54.710 right? It's not like a presidential election 00:08:54.710 --> 00:08:57.529 where you just tick a box. No. And this is crucial 00:08:57.529 --> 00:09:00.370 for understanding the snubs and the close races 00:09:00.370 --> 00:09:02.490 we'll talk about. It is a weighted point system. 00:09:02.590 --> 00:09:04.210 Let's break down the math. How does it work? 00:09:04.429 --> 00:09:07.220 So each voter. whether they're media or the fan 00:09:07.220 --> 00:09:10.120 ballot, selects a top five. They rank them one 00:09:10.120 --> 00:09:12.279 through five. Okay. A first place vote gets you 00:09:12.279 --> 00:09:14.740 10 points. Second place gets you seven points. 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:17.299 Third place gets five points. Fourth place gets 00:09:17.299 --> 00:09:19.639 three points. And fifth place gets one point. 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:22.519 So consistency matters a lot. You can't just 00:09:22.519 --> 00:09:24.799 be the favorite of a few people. You need to 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:27.799 be on everyone's radar. Exactly. Let's say you 00:09:27.799 --> 00:09:31.230 are a very polarizing player. Maybe you are a 00:09:31.230 --> 00:09:33.830 defensive specialist who doesn't score much or 00:09:33.830 --> 00:09:36.009 you have a style of play that some people just 00:09:36.009 --> 00:09:38.529 hate. Like a James Harden type player for some 00:09:38.529 --> 00:09:41.049 fans. A perfect example. You might get, say, 00:09:41.190 --> 00:09:44.409 10 first place votes from the people who absolutely 00:09:44.409 --> 00:09:47.409 love your game. That's 100 points. But if the 00:09:47.409 --> 00:09:49.610 other 90 voters leave you off their ballot entirely. 00:09:50.490 --> 00:09:53.090 you aren't going to win. Versus the guy who maybe 00:09:53.090 --> 00:09:55.190 doesn't get as many first place votes, but everyone 00:09:55.190 --> 00:09:57.769 agrees is, at worst, the second best player in 00:09:57.769 --> 00:10:00.549 the league. Right. If you accumulate enough second 00:10:00.549 --> 00:10:03.169 and third place votes, you can rack up a massive 00:10:03.169 --> 00:10:06.330 point total. This system rewards consensus. It 00:10:06.330 --> 00:10:09.470 forces the MVP to be someone that the vast majority 00:10:09.470 --> 00:10:12.820 of observers agree is elite. That makes a lot 00:10:12.820 --> 00:10:14.620 of sense. It prevents a regional favorite from 00:10:14.620 --> 00:10:17.860 hijacking the award just because the local writers 00:10:17.860 --> 00:10:20.039 in their city went rogue and put him number one. 00:10:20.220 --> 00:10:22.600 Correct. It forces a broader perspective. All 00:10:22.600 --> 00:10:24.299 right. Let's get into the legends, the titans, 00:10:24.340 --> 00:10:27.039 the guys who didn't just win it once but turned 00:10:27.039 --> 00:10:30.620 their homes into trophy cases. When we look at 00:10:30.620 --> 00:10:32.659 the history books, who is sitting at the very 00:10:32.659 --> 00:10:35.990 top of the mountain? The record holder. The undisputed 00:10:35.990 --> 00:10:38.929 king of the MVP is Kareem Abdul -Jabbar. The 00:10:38.929 --> 00:10:41.870 captain. Six times. He won the award six times. 00:10:41.990 --> 00:10:44.110 Yeah. Just stop and think about the longevity 00:10:44.110 --> 00:10:46.649 required for that. To be the best player in the 00:10:46.649 --> 00:10:49.610 league over such a long span. It's incredible. 00:10:49.809 --> 00:10:51.389 And he did it with different franchises, right? 00:10:51.450 --> 00:10:53.830 This wasn't just one dynastic run. He did. He 00:10:53.830 --> 00:10:55.809 won three with the Milwaukee Bucks in the early 00:10:55.809 --> 00:10:58.169 70s and then three with the Los Angeles Lakers 00:10:58.169 --> 00:11:01.149 in the late 70s and early 80s. But there is one 00:11:01.149 --> 00:11:04.210 season in Kareem's resume that I think is the 00:11:04.210 --> 00:11:07.769 single weirdest statistical anomaly in the history 00:11:07.769 --> 00:11:10.129 of American sports awards. Okay, hit me. I love 00:11:10.129 --> 00:11:14.610 these weird facts. In the 1975 -76 season, Kareem 00:11:14.610 --> 00:11:18.320 Abdul -Jabbar won the MVP award. despite his 00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:20.299 team not making the playoffs. Yeah, really? How 00:11:20.299 --> 00:11:22.279 is that even possible? I feel like today, if 00:11:22.279 --> 00:11:24.620 a guy's team is even the eighth seed, people 00:11:24.620 --> 00:11:27.159 scream that he has empty stats or doesn't impact 00:11:27.159 --> 00:11:30.940 winning. It is unthinkable in the modern era. 00:11:31.220 --> 00:11:34.200 It would never happen. If Shy Gilgis Alexander 00:11:34.200 --> 00:11:36.679 missed the playoffs this year, he wouldn't have 00:11:36.679 --> 00:11:38.320 sniffed the trophy. He wouldn't even be in the 00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:40.340 top ten. So what was the thinking back then? 00:11:40.700 --> 00:11:43.899 You have to look at the context of 1976. This 00:11:43.899 --> 00:11:46.059 was the first year after Kareem was traded to 00:11:46.059 --> 00:11:51.809 the Lakers. And the Lakers roster was, let's 00:11:51.809 --> 00:11:53.789 be charitable and say it was thin. It wasn't 00:11:53.789 --> 00:11:55.590 the Showtime Lakers yet. Not even close. Not 00:11:55.590 --> 00:11:58.350 even close. They were not good. But Kareem was 00:11:58.350 --> 00:12:01.169 so individually dominant. He led the league in 00:12:01.169 --> 00:12:03.470 rebounding. He led the league in blocks. And 00:12:03.470 --> 00:12:05.889 he was second in scoring. The voters. Who were 00:12:05.889 --> 00:12:07.809 the players back then? Who were the players back 00:12:07.809 --> 00:12:09.429 then? Remember, they look at that Lakers team 00:12:09.429 --> 00:12:12.210 and said, without this guy. They aren't even 00:12:12.210 --> 00:12:14.070 a professional basketball team. They might win 00:12:14.070 --> 00:12:16.389 10 games. So it was the ultimate definition of 00:12:16.389 --> 00:12:18.750 value. He was literally the only valuable piece 00:12:18.750 --> 00:12:21.009 on the roster. Exactly. He was single -handedly 00:12:21.009 --> 00:12:24.129 dragging that team to respectability. So he remains 00:12:24.129 --> 00:12:27.350 the only player in history to achieve that. It 00:12:27.350 --> 00:12:29.669 is a record I feel very confident saying will 00:12:29.669 --> 00:12:33.649 never, ever be broken. That is wild. Okay, so 00:12:33.649 --> 00:12:36.649 Kareem is at six. Who is chasing him in the five 00:12:36.649 --> 00:12:39.909 -timers club? We have two absolute legends in 00:12:39.909 --> 00:12:42.970 that club. Bill Russell and Michael Jordan. Russell 00:12:42.970 --> 00:12:45.049 and Jordan, the ultimate winner and the ultimate 00:12:45.049 --> 00:12:48.009 icon. It feels right, doesn't it? The names just 00:12:48.009 --> 00:12:50.889 fit. And Bill Russell's dominance was incredibly 00:12:50.889 --> 00:12:53.830 concentrated. He won four of his five awards 00:12:53.830 --> 00:12:56.830 in a single five -season span. Wow. He basically 00:12:56.830 --> 00:13:00.490 owned the late 50s and early 60s. He just blocked 00:13:00.490 --> 00:13:02.710 the lane for everyone else in the league, both 00:13:02.710 --> 00:13:05.470 literally and figuratively for this award. And 00:13:05.470 --> 00:13:07.629 Jordan. He's the namesake of the trophy now. 00:13:07.870 --> 00:13:09.950 And Jordan is interesting because while he won 00:13:09.950 --> 00:13:12.529 five, many people, and I think it's a very fair 00:13:12.529 --> 00:13:14.769 argument, say he should have won seven or eight. 00:13:15.169 --> 00:13:17.830 Right. This brings up the concept of voter fatigue. 00:13:18.169 --> 00:13:20.309 The dreaded voter fatigue. We hear this term 00:13:20.309 --> 00:13:22.230 a lot. Can you explain it? Humans get bored. 00:13:22.549 --> 00:13:25.210 It's that simple. If Michael Jordan is the best 00:13:25.210 --> 00:13:27.889 player every single year, the story gets stale 00:13:27.889 --> 00:13:30.730 for the media. Writers want to write a new headline. 00:13:31.129 --> 00:13:33.389 They want to champion a new hero. But the bar 00:13:33.389 --> 00:13:36.340 moves for him. It gets raised impossibly high. 00:13:37.059 --> 00:13:39.700 For Jordan to win his fourth or fifth MVP, he 00:13:39.700 --> 00:13:42.269 had to be significantly better. than his previous, 00:13:42.429 --> 00:13:45.269 already legendary self. Whereas a new guy, like 00:13:45.269 --> 00:13:47.590 a Charles Barkley or Carl Malone, just had to 00:13:47.590 --> 00:13:50.090 have a career year to get the narrative on their 00:13:50.090 --> 00:13:52.509 side and steal one away. So Jordan's five is 00:13:52.509 --> 00:13:55.210 actually a testament to him overcoming not just 00:13:55.210 --> 00:13:57.470 the other players on the court, but the boredom 00:13:57.470 --> 00:14:00.149 of the voters? Absolutely. He was so good that 00:14:00.149 --> 00:14:02.230 he broke through the fatigue five times. Incredible. 00:14:02.470 --> 00:14:05.129 And then we drop down to the four -time winners. 00:14:05.289 --> 00:14:08.090 Who is on that tier? Two physical anomalies. 00:14:08.570 --> 00:14:11.090 Wilt Chamberlain and LeBron James. Wilt and LeBron, 00:14:11.169 --> 00:14:13.450 talk about two guys who were just built differently 00:14:13.450 --> 00:14:15.750 than any other human on the court. There is a 00:14:15.750 --> 00:14:18.570 strong parallel there, for sure. And just like 00:14:18.570 --> 00:14:21.230 Bill Russell, LeBron James achieved that incredible 00:14:21.230 --> 00:14:24.029 feat of winning four awards in a five season 00:14:24.029 --> 00:14:26.929 span. So another period of just total dominance. 00:14:27.210 --> 00:14:30.370 From 2009 to 2013, LeBron was the undeniable 00:14:30.370 --> 00:14:32.850 center of the basketball universe. There was 00:14:32.850 --> 00:14:34.889 no real debate about who the best player was. 00:14:35.049 --> 00:14:37.129 And LeBron also did the two team thing. Right. 00:14:37.629 --> 00:14:40.029 Two with the Cleveland Cavaliers and two with 00:14:40.029 --> 00:14:43.129 the Miami Heat. Wilt also split his awards, winning 00:14:43.129 --> 00:14:45.669 with the Warriors and the 76ers, which I think 00:14:45.669 --> 00:14:48.169 speaks to their transquartable value. It wasn't 00:14:48.169 --> 00:14:50.710 just the system. It was them. Okay. Moving down 00:14:50.710 --> 00:14:53.990 the list. Who has three? The three -timers list 00:14:53.990 --> 00:14:56.370 is fascinating because it includes some of the 00:14:56.370 --> 00:14:59.970 best passing bigs and forwards in history. You 00:14:59.970 --> 00:15:02.090 have Moses Malone, who is often the forgotten 00:15:02.090 --> 00:15:03.909 giant of this list. He doesn't get talked about 00:15:03.909 --> 00:15:06.110 enough. Not nearly enough. Yeah. He won with 00:15:06.110 --> 00:15:08.230 the Rockets and Sixers. You have Laurie Bird 00:15:08.230 --> 00:15:10.289 with the Celtics. You have Magic Johnson with 00:15:10.289 --> 00:15:12.690 the Lakers. And the most recent addition to this 00:15:12.690 --> 00:15:17.529 tier, Nikoli Jokic. The Joker. Yes. Jokic secured 00:15:17.529 --> 00:15:20.409 his third MVP in 2024, joining that incredibly 00:15:20.409 --> 00:15:23.049 elite company. But I want to flag Larry Bird 00:15:23.049 --> 00:15:25.190 here for a second. Okay. He holds a very specific 00:15:25.190 --> 00:15:27.409 distinction, along with Russell and Chamberlain. 00:15:27.490 --> 00:15:29.750 Only those three. What's that? Bird is one of 00:15:29.750 --> 00:15:31.590 only three players to win the award in three 00:15:31.590 --> 00:15:36.340 consecutive years. 1984, 1985, 1986. A three 00:15:36.340 --> 00:15:39.100 -peat MVP. Wow. And we haven't seen that since. 00:15:39.320 --> 00:15:42.360 We have not. And think about the chances we've 00:15:42.360 --> 00:15:44.820 had recently. Giannis went back -to -back. Steph 00:15:44.820 --> 00:15:46.779 Curry went back -to -back. Jokic went back -to 00:15:46.779 --> 00:15:49.360 -back. LeBron went back -to -back twice. But 00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:51.519 that third straight one is the hardest hurdle 00:15:51.519 --> 00:15:54.259 in sports. That voter fatigue again, it must 00:15:54.259 --> 00:15:56.679 be at its absolute peak in that third year. It 00:15:56.679 --> 00:15:59.259 is the Jordan rule applied to everyone. When 00:15:59.259 --> 00:16:01.799 Jokic was going for his third straight in 2023, 00:16:02.159 --> 00:16:05.539 the narrative shifted so heavily toward Joel 00:16:05.539 --> 00:16:07.860 Embiid. And a big part of that was simply because 00:16:07.860 --> 00:16:09.820 we hadn't given it to Embiid yet. It was his 00:16:09.820 --> 00:16:12.899 turn. Exactly. It's his turn. He's a powerful, 00:16:13.059 --> 00:16:16.220 powerful force in MVP voting. Now, speaking of 00:16:16.220 --> 00:16:18.789 voting weirdness. Let's talk about the statistical 00:16:18.789 --> 00:16:21.309 anomalies, because for a long, long time, there 00:16:21.309 --> 00:16:23.730 was this weird fact that no one had ever been 00:16:23.730 --> 00:16:26.990 a unanimous MVP. Right. Not Jordan, not Kareem, 00:16:27.070 --> 00:16:29.830 not Wilt, not LeBron in his peak. It was one 00:16:29.830 --> 00:16:31.649 of those unwritten rules of the sport. It felt 00:16:31.649 --> 00:16:33.909 like it would never happen. Someone, somewhere, 00:16:34.049 --> 00:16:37.029 always voted for someone else. Maybe a beat writer 00:16:37.029 --> 00:16:39.210 in New York threw a pity vote to Patrick Ewing. 00:16:39.370 --> 00:16:42.409 Or a Homer vote. A Homer vote. Maybe someone 00:16:42.409 --> 00:16:45.009 in Houston voted for Hakeem. There was never 00:16:45.009 --> 00:16:50.029 100 % consensus. Until the 2015 -16 season. Stephen 00:16:50.029 --> 00:16:52.970 Curry. The season he broke basketball. He just 00:16:52.970 --> 00:16:55.259 completely reshaped the game. The Golden State 00:16:55.259 --> 00:16:58.120 Warriors won 73 games, breaking the Bulls' all 00:16:58.120 --> 00:17:00.039 -time record. Which everyone thought was untouchable. 00:17:00.200 --> 00:17:03.779 Untouchable. And Curry personally made 402 three 00:17:03.779 --> 00:17:06.519 -pointers, which shattered his own record. It 00:17:06.519 --> 00:17:08.660 was such an overwhelming display of dominance 00:17:08.660 --> 00:17:10.920 that there was simply no logical argument for 00:17:10.920 --> 00:17:13.720 anyone else. So he became the first and only 00:17:13.720 --> 00:17:16.660 unanimous MVP. Every single first -place vote. 00:17:16.720 --> 00:17:19.740 He stands alone in that category. But the tragedy, 00:17:19.819 --> 00:17:22.289 and honestly the comedy... is looking at the 00:17:22.289 --> 00:17:24.329 guys who missed it by one single vote. A one 00:17:24.329 --> 00:17:26.349 -vote shy club. This has to be heartbreaking 00:17:26.349 --> 00:17:28.509 for those guys. It is full of rage, and they're 00:17:28.509 --> 00:17:30.430 not shy about it. Let's take Shaquille O 'Neal 00:17:30.430 --> 00:17:33.569 in the 1999 -2000 season. Teak Shaq, just a force 00:17:33.569 --> 00:17:35.529 of nature. He was Godzilla destroying Tokyo. 00:17:35.690 --> 00:17:37.609 There was no answer for him. He led the league 00:17:37.609 --> 00:17:39.309 in scoring with second in rebounds, third in 00:17:39.309 --> 00:17:41.750 blocks. The Lakers won 67 games. It was a perfect 00:17:41.750 --> 00:17:43.910 season. And he received how many votes? He received 00:17:43.910 --> 00:17:48.289 120 of the 121 first place votes. So close. Who 00:17:48.289 --> 00:17:50.569 got the one? Who's the person that Shaq still 00:17:50.569 --> 00:17:52.730 has on a list somewhere? It was a reporter named 00:17:52.730 --> 00:17:55.349 Fred Hickman who cast his first place vote for 00:17:55.349 --> 00:17:57.730 Allen Iverson. Now look, Iverson had a great 00:17:57.730 --> 00:18:00.230 year, but Shaq was historically dominant. And 00:18:00.230 --> 00:18:01.869 Shaq is still bitter about that, by the way. 00:18:01.910 --> 00:18:04.089 He brings it up on TV all the time. I don't blame 00:18:04.089 --> 00:18:06.390 him. And LeBron had this happen too, right? Yes, 00:18:06.410 --> 00:18:10.190 in the 2012 -13 season. This was Miami LeBron. 00:18:10.599 --> 00:18:13.000 at the absolute peak of his physical efficiency. 00:18:13.319 --> 00:18:15.980 He shot 56 % from the field as a wing player. 00:18:16.200 --> 00:18:18.539 The Heat won 27 games in a row at one point. 00:18:18.619 --> 00:18:20.660 Another season where there was just no question 00:18:20.660 --> 00:18:23.319 who the best player was. Zero question. He got 00:18:23.319 --> 00:18:26.859 120 of 121 votes. And the lone dissenter. A writer 00:18:26.859 --> 00:18:29.380 named Gary Washburn from Boston voted for Carmelo 00:18:29.380 --> 00:18:32.480 Anthony. His argument was that Melo meant more 00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:34.720 to the Knicks than LeBron meant to the Heat, 00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:37.119 because the Heat also had Dwyane Wade and Chris 00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:39.390 Bosh. I mean, I guess that's a value argument, 00:18:39.490 --> 00:18:41.869 but it feels like you're trying to be the contrarian. 00:18:41.869 --> 00:18:44.509 It feels like overthinking it. It feels like 00:18:44.509 --> 00:18:47.890 trying to be the smartest guy in the room. And 00:18:47.890 --> 00:18:51.180 it cost LeBron. That unanimous distinction in 00:18:51.180 --> 00:18:53.359 the history books. What about rookies? We see 00:18:53.359 --> 00:18:55.400 guys like Wemby coming into the league now looking 00:18:55.400 --> 00:18:58.019 like aliens. Has a rookie ever just walked in 00:18:58.019 --> 00:19:00.579 and said, I'm the MVP of the whole league right 00:19:00.579 --> 00:19:03.619 now? It has happened, but it is incredibly, incredibly 00:19:03.619 --> 00:19:06.039 rare. It has only occurred twice in the entire 00:19:06.039 --> 00:19:09.099 history of the league. Only twice? Twice. The 00:19:09.099 --> 00:19:10.579 first was Wilt Chamberlain, of course, in the 00:19:10.579 --> 00:19:14.160 1959 -60 season. He averaged 37 points and 27 00:19:14.160 --> 00:19:16.000 rebounds as a rookie. I mean, what do you think 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:18.259 do with that? That's not a human stat line. You 00:19:18.259 --> 00:19:20.140 just give him the... trophy and try not to make 00:19:20.140 --> 00:19:22.259 eye contact. And the second one. And then Wes 00:19:22.259 --> 00:19:25.740 Unsell did it in 1968 -69. He wasn't a scorer 00:19:25.740 --> 00:19:28.799 like Wilt, but he was such a rock, such a force 00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:30.779 of leadership and rebounding for the Baltimore 00:19:30.779 --> 00:19:34.359 Bullets, that he won MVP on pure impact. So it 00:19:34.359 --> 00:19:37.440 hasn't happened in over 50 years. Not since 1969, 00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:40.799 no. The gap between college or even international 00:19:40.799 --> 00:19:44.650 play. And the NBA is just too wide now. Even 00:19:44.650 --> 00:19:46.829 a generational talent like Victor Wembanyama, 00:19:46.930 --> 00:19:49.349 who had an incredible rookie year, wasn't leading 00:19:49.349 --> 00:19:52.089 his team to 50 wins. And as we know, winning 00:19:52.089 --> 00:19:54.450 is pretty much a prerequisite. Let's talk about 00:19:54.450 --> 00:19:57.470 age. Who is the youngest gun to win it? That 00:19:57.470 --> 00:20:00.849 would be Derrick Rose. In the 2010 -11 season, 00:20:01.089 --> 00:20:04.130 he just captivated the league. He was so explosive, 00:20:04.269 --> 00:20:06.630 so athletic, fearless. I remember that season. 00:20:06.690 --> 00:20:09.390 He was must -see TV. Every single night, he led 00:20:09.390 --> 00:20:11.650 the Bulls to the best record in the league over 00:20:11.650 --> 00:20:14.750 LeBron's heat. And he was just 22 years old. 00:20:14.910 --> 00:20:17.650 22? That is absurdly young to be the best player 00:20:17.650 --> 00:20:19.750 in a league of men. And sadly, because of the 00:20:19.750 --> 00:20:21.490 injuries that followed, he never reached those 00:20:21.490 --> 00:20:24.109 heights again. He is, to this day, the only MVP 00:20:24.109 --> 00:20:26.490 in history who is not considered a lock for the 00:20:26.490 --> 00:20:28.670 Hall of Fame, which is a really tragic footnote. 00:20:28.910 --> 00:20:30.869 That is tough. And on the other end of the spectrum, 00:20:31.009 --> 00:20:33.289 who is the old man of the group? Karl Malone, 00:20:33.390 --> 00:20:36.369 the mailman delivered in the 1998 -99 season. 00:20:36.490 --> 00:20:38.410 Oh, the lockout year. The lockout shortened season, 00:20:38.569 --> 00:20:41.650 yes. He won it at age 35. Old man strength. Indeed. 00:20:41.750 --> 00:20:44.150 He kept his body in immaculate condition and 00:20:44.150 --> 00:20:46.089 just outlasted all the younger stars that year. 00:20:46.230 --> 00:20:48.670 Now, earlier you mentioned Kareem winning without 00:20:48.670 --> 00:20:50.769 making the playoffs, which is the ultimate outlier. 00:20:50.910 --> 00:20:53.150 But generally, you have to be on a top -tier 00:20:53.150 --> 00:20:56.529 team, right? The golden rule of MVP voting. Generally, 00:20:56.750 --> 00:20:59.670 MVPs come from teams with 50 -plus wins, or at 00:20:59.670 --> 00:21:02.789 least a top -two seed. History shows that voters 00:21:02.789 --> 00:21:05.210 value winning almost as much as individual stats. 00:21:05.670 --> 00:21:08.309 If you score 35 points a game but your team is 00:21:08.309 --> 00:21:11.690 under .500, you're empty calories. But there 00:21:11.690 --> 00:21:14.349 are other exceptions besides Kareem. There are 00:21:14.349 --> 00:21:17.430 a few, if we exclude the shortened seasons. Moses 00:21:17.430 --> 00:21:21.109 Malone won twice, in 1979 and 1982, on teams 00:21:21.109 --> 00:21:23.569 that were good but not necessarily juggernauts 00:21:23.569 --> 00:21:26.279 in the 60 -win set. But the modern outliers, 00:21:26.420 --> 00:21:28.539 the ones people really debate, are Russell Westbrook 00:21:28.539 --> 00:21:33.000 in 2016 -17 and Nikola Jokic in 2021 -22. Westbrook 00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:34.460 was the triple -double season, right? Right. 00:21:34.539 --> 00:21:36.660 After Durant left. Exactly. He averaged a triple 00:21:36.660 --> 00:21:38.599 -double for the first time since Oscar Robertson. 00:21:38.619 --> 00:21:40.380 The narrative of that statistical achievement 00:21:40.380 --> 00:21:42.900 was so powerful that it overwhelmed the fact 00:21:42.900 --> 00:21:44.779 that his Oklahoma City Thunder were only the 00:21:44.779 --> 00:21:47.950 sixth seed. So history mattered more than seeding 00:21:47.950 --> 00:21:50.950 that year. Voters decided that a historic individual 00:21:50.950 --> 00:21:53.170 feat mattered more than win percentage that year. 00:21:53.230 --> 00:21:55.390 It was a total reversal of the usual criteria. 00:21:55.650 --> 00:21:59.410 Jokic. Jokic in 2021 -22 carried a Denver team 00:21:59.410 --> 00:22:02.589 that was just decimated by injuries. Jamal Murray 00:22:02.589 --> 00:22:05.450 was out. Michael Porter Jr. was out. He was playing 00:22:05.450 --> 00:22:08.029 with guys who were respectfully G leaguers. Right. 00:22:08.130 --> 00:22:10.890 The voters recognized that without Jokic, that 00:22:10.890 --> 00:22:13.200 team might have been in the lottery. So value 00:22:13.200 --> 00:22:15.759 in that case meant carrying the heaviest load, 00:22:15.940 --> 00:22:18.460 even if the final win total wasn't 60. That's 00:22:18.460 --> 00:22:21.259 a great segue, actually, because the face of 00:22:21.259 --> 00:22:24.299 who is carrying that load has changed dramatically. 00:22:24.299 --> 00:22:26.940 We have seen a massive, massive international 00:22:26.940 --> 00:22:28.920 shift. Well, this is one of the most profound 00:22:28.920 --> 00:22:30.980 changes in the league's history. For the first 00:22:30.980 --> 00:22:33.779 few decades, this was an American award for an 00:22:33.779 --> 00:22:36.460 American league. The winners were born in Philly, 00:22:36.599 --> 00:22:39.539 Louisiana, New York, Chicago. When did that start 00:22:39.539 --> 00:22:42.259 to crack open? The door really opened with Hakeem 00:22:42.259 --> 00:22:46.759 Olajuwon. In the 1993 -94 season, Hakeem became 00:22:46.759 --> 00:22:48.960 the first international winner. The dream. Now, 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:51.619 context is important here. Hakeem was born in 00:22:51.619 --> 00:22:53.759 Nigeria, but he played college ball at Houston, 00:22:53.900 --> 00:22:56.460 and he became a naturalized U .S. citizen in 00:22:56.460 --> 00:23:00.380 1993. But in terms of origin, in terms of where 00:23:00.380 --> 00:23:02.910 he learned the game, He was the pioneer. Who 00:23:02.910 --> 00:23:06.109 followed him? Then we have Tim Duncan. Now, Duncan 00:23:06.109 --> 00:23:08.430 was born in the U .S. Virgin Islands and is a 00:23:08.430 --> 00:23:10.210 U .S. citizen, so it's a bit of a gray area. 00:23:10.450 --> 00:23:12.970 But for NBA categorization purposes regarding 00:23:12.970 --> 00:23:15.569 the growth of the game, he is often discussed 00:23:15.569 --> 00:23:18.109 in the context of international expansion. And 00:23:18.109 --> 00:23:20.109 he won back -to -back. He won back -to -back 00:23:20.109 --> 00:23:22.670 in 2002 and 2003. But then we started getting 00:23:22.670 --> 00:23:25.230 players who were truly from outside the U .S. 00:23:25.230 --> 00:23:28.069 system in a different way. Right. Not guys who 00:23:28.069 --> 00:23:31.119 played in the NCAA. Exactly. Steve Nash, born 00:23:31.119 --> 00:23:33.680 in South Africa, raised in Canada. He wasn't 00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:35.220 a freak athlete. He was a soccer player turned 00:23:35.220 --> 00:23:37.660 point guard. He won back to back in 2005 and 00:23:37.660 --> 00:23:41.339 2006. Then Dirk Davidsky from Germany in 2007. 00:23:41.599 --> 00:23:44.819 And then recently the floodgates just burst open. 00:23:45.079 --> 00:23:47.059 Floodgates is the only word for it. If you look 00:23:47.059 --> 00:23:49.319 at the 2020s, it has been total complete domination 00:23:49.319 --> 00:23:51.779 by international players. It's actually shocking 00:23:51.779 --> 00:23:53.650 when you write it all down. Okay, let's look 00:23:53.650 --> 00:23:55.990 at the list for this past decade or so. All right. 00:23:56.450 --> 00:23:59.750 Giannis Antetokounmpo from Greece, 1 -2. Nikola 00:23:59.750 --> 00:24:03.589 Jokic from Serbia, 1 -3. Joel Embiid from Cameroon, 00:24:03.589 --> 00:24:05.750 who, like Hakim, became a U .S. citizen later 00:24:05.750 --> 00:24:10.390 in 2022, 1 -1. And now, Shai. And now, Shai Gilgis 00:24:10.390 --> 00:24:13.470 -Alexander from Canada winning in 2025. So we 00:24:13.470 --> 00:24:16.890 have had long stretches recently where an American 00:24:16.890 --> 00:24:19.150 -born player hasn't even touched the trophy. 00:24:19.349 --> 00:24:21.150 Correct. For a while, there was a seven -year 00:24:21.150 --> 00:24:24.230 stretch where Jokic, Giannis, or Embiid won it. 00:24:24.509 --> 00:24:26.650 It speaks to the globalization of the talent 00:24:26.650 --> 00:24:30.190 pool. The best players in the world are no longer 00:24:30.190 --> 00:24:32.890 exclusively coming from the NCAA pipeline or 00:24:32.890 --> 00:24:34.970 American high schools. It's incredible. They're 00:24:34.970 --> 00:24:37.440 coming from academies in Europe. clubs in Africa, 00:24:37.559 --> 00:24:40.880 and gyms in Canada. There are 12 total MVP awards 00:24:40.880 --> 00:24:43.220 now shared by eight international players. Why 00:24:43.220 --> 00:24:45.279 do you think that is? Is the U .S. falling behind 00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:47.380 in development? Well, there is a lot of hand 00:24:47.380 --> 00:24:50.039 -wringing about that. Some experts argue that 00:24:50.039 --> 00:24:52.759 the AAU system in America focuses too much on 00:24:52.759 --> 00:24:55.180 individual scoring and athleticism, whereas the 00:24:55.180 --> 00:24:56.960 European system focuses more on fundamentals, 00:24:57.160 --> 00:24:59.519 passing, and team play. The cerebral side of 00:24:59.519 --> 00:25:02.019 the game. Exactly. When you look at Jokic or 00:25:02.019 --> 00:25:03.880 Luka Doncic, who is always in the conversation. 00:25:04.599 --> 00:25:07.579 They play with a cerebral quality that is very 00:25:07.579 --> 00:25:10.519 hard to teach. It's not just about jumping higher. 00:25:10.660 --> 00:25:13.200 It's wild to think that the best player in the 00:25:13.200 --> 00:25:16.200 world title has effectively left the United States 00:25:16.200 --> 00:25:19.279 for a significant period. It has. And looking 00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:21.539 at the young guys coming up, Wemba Nyama from 00:25:21.539 --> 00:25:24.359 France, for example, it might not be coming back 00:25:24.359 --> 00:25:26.980 anytime soon. The global talent is here to stay. 00:25:27.400 --> 00:25:30.019 I want to pivot to something that affects the 00:25:30.019 --> 00:25:32.920 modern game and the MVP specifically. The load 00:25:32.920 --> 00:25:35.880 management era. The league actually changed the 00:25:35.880 --> 00:25:38.640 rules recently to force guys to play. Yes. This 00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:41.740 is the infamous 65 game threshold. And it has 00:25:41.740 --> 00:25:44.079 been incredibly controversial. So how does it 00:25:44.079 --> 00:25:46.339 work exactly? It became effective with the 2023 00:25:46.339 --> 00:25:48.920 -24 season as part of the new collective bargaining 00:25:48.920 --> 00:25:51.759 agreement. The rule is simple. Players must appear 00:25:51.759 --> 00:25:54.740 in at least 65 games to be eligible for the MVP. 00:25:55.019 --> 00:25:57.599 And not just MVP, right. It applies to most regular 00:25:57.599 --> 00:26:00.400 season honors, all NBA teams, defensive player 00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:02.579 of the year, all of it. Why did they do this? 00:26:02.700 --> 00:26:04.539 Was it because guys were sitting out too much? 00:26:04.740 --> 00:26:07.420 Exactly. The league was trying to combat load 00:26:07.420 --> 00:26:10.839 management star players resting during games 00:26:10.839 --> 00:26:12.740 when they were technically healthy enough to 00:26:12.740 --> 00:26:16.019 play. It became a huge issue for fans and TV 00:26:16.019 --> 00:26:18.799 partners. Right. The fans pay to see the stars. 00:26:18.920 --> 00:26:21.660 The TV networks pay to show the stars. If the 00:26:21.660 --> 00:26:23.440 stars are sitting out every back -to -back, the 00:26:23.440 --> 00:26:25.599 product suffers. That's the league's position. 00:26:26.099 --> 00:26:28.279 They wanted to ensure that the most valuable 00:26:28.279 --> 00:26:30.940 player was actually on the court for the vast 00:26:30.940 --> 00:26:33.660 majority of the season. Does just stepping on 00:26:33.660 --> 00:26:35.559 the court count? Can I sub in for 10 seconds, 00:26:35.680 --> 00:26:37.559 wave to the crowd, and leave? And that counts 00:26:37.559 --> 00:26:39.599 as a game. No. They thought of that loophole. 00:26:40.880 --> 00:26:43.839 To receive credit for a game, a player must play 00:26:43.839 --> 00:26:46.599 at least 20 minutes. 20 minutes. OK, that's a 00:26:46.599 --> 00:26:49.720 real shift. However, there's a little bit of 00:26:49.720 --> 00:26:52.480 wiggle room. They allow two near misses where 00:26:52.480 --> 00:26:54.819 a player appears for 15 to 19 minutes. Those 00:26:54.819 --> 00:26:57.380 can count toward the 65. Why? What's the point 00:26:57.380 --> 00:26:59.140 of that? This covers scenarios where a guy gets 00:26:59.140 --> 00:27:01.900 into foul trouble early and has to sit or maybe 00:27:01.900 --> 00:27:04.420 has a minor injury mid -game and has to leave. 00:27:04.579 --> 00:27:06.400 Yeah. It gives a little flexibility. What if 00:27:06.400 --> 00:27:09.160 you get hurt? Like a real season -ending injury? 00:27:09.579 --> 00:27:12.460 There are protections for that. For season -ending 00:27:12.460 --> 00:27:14.920 injuries, a player can be eligible with as few 00:27:14.920 --> 00:27:18.539 as 62 games. And there is a vague clause for 00:27:18.539 --> 00:27:21.440 bad faith circumstances, which is a bit of a 00:27:21.440 --> 00:27:24.200 catch -all for weird situations where a team 00:27:24.200 --> 00:27:26.940 might bench a player against their will, perhaps 00:27:26.940 --> 00:27:29.319 to tank for a draft pick. But basically, if you 00:27:29.319 --> 00:27:31.680 play 64 games and you're the best player on Earth, 00:27:31.819 --> 00:27:34.789 you aren't winning MVP. Period. That is the rule. 00:27:34.930 --> 00:27:37.089 It brings availability into the definition of 00:27:37.089 --> 00:27:40.109 value. And we saw the impact immediately. Joel 00:27:40.109 --> 00:27:43.910 Embiid. Joel Embiid in the 2023 -24 season. He 00:27:43.910 --> 00:27:46.170 was having a historic scoring season, averaging 00:27:46.170 --> 00:27:48.089 more points than minutes played, which is just 00:27:48.089 --> 00:27:50.430 insane. But he got hurt. He tried to rush back 00:27:50.430 --> 00:27:52.809 to hit the 65 game mark and ended up injuring 00:27:52.809 --> 00:27:54.910 himself worse. He was disqualified from the award. 00:27:55.150 --> 00:27:56.990 It's a harsh line, but I guess I get the league's 00:27:56.990 --> 00:27:58.930 perspective. The fans want to see the stars. 00:27:59.190 --> 00:28:01.750 And for historical comparison, it is really interesting. 00:28:02.089 --> 00:28:04.740 Let's look at Bill Walton. He won MVP in 1978 00:28:04.740 --> 00:28:08.839 playing only 58 games. Wait, really? 58? 58 games. 00:28:09.599 --> 00:28:12.259 Walton was so dominant when he was on the court 00:28:12.259 --> 00:28:14.839 that the voters just gave it to him anyway. They 00:28:14.839 --> 00:28:17.359 decided those 58 games were more valuable than 00:28:17.359 --> 00:28:20.200 anyone else's 80. So under these new rules... 00:28:20.200 --> 00:28:22.960 Under these new rules, Bill Walton, one of the 00:28:22.960 --> 00:28:25.519 greatest peaks we've ever seen, wouldn't have 00:28:25.519 --> 00:28:27.740 even been eligible. He would be completely erased 00:28:27.740 --> 00:28:30.700 from the history of that award. Wow. That puts 00:28:30.700 --> 00:28:32.880 it in perspective. Okay, let's talk about the 00:28:32.880 --> 00:28:34.839 teams. We talked about the players. But which 00:28:34.839 --> 00:28:37.519 franchises have the most hardware in their lobby? 00:28:37.740 --> 00:28:40.359 It's the usual suspects at the top. The Boston 00:28:40.359 --> 00:28:42.980 Celtics lead the way with 10 awards. Ten? Who 00:28:42.980 --> 00:28:45.920 are they? That is Russell with his five, Bob 00:28:45.920 --> 00:28:48.180 Cousy, Dave Cowens, and, of course, Larry Bird 00:28:48.180 --> 00:28:50.599 with his three -peat. The Green Legacy. Makes 00:28:50.599 --> 00:28:52.519 sense. Then you've got the Los Angeles Lakers 00:28:52.519 --> 00:28:54.960 with eight awards. That's Kareem with three for 00:28:54.960 --> 00:28:57.799 them, Magic with three, and then Shaq and Kobe 00:28:57.799 --> 00:29:00.900 Bryant with one each. Only one for Kobe. That 00:29:00.900 --> 00:29:03.779 feels low. That is a whole other deep dive for 00:29:03.779 --> 00:29:06.160 another day. Many people believe Kobe should 00:29:06.160 --> 00:29:08.299 have won more, particularly in the mid -2000s, 00:29:08.299 --> 00:29:10.680 but that was when Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki 00:29:10.680 --> 00:29:12.720 took those trophies home. And the Sixers are 00:29:12.720 --> 00:29:14.839 up there too, right? The Philadelphia 76ers are 00:29:14.839 --> 00:29:17.039 right there with seven awards. A rich history. 00:29:17.740 --> 00:29:22.430 Wilt. Julius Irving, Dr. J, Moses Malone, Allen 00:29:22.430 --> 00:29:25.710 Iverson, and most recently, Joel Embiid. They 00:29:25.710 --> 00:29:27.569 have a history of dominant individual scores. 00:29:27.809 --> 00:29:31.069 And Chicago. The Bulls have six, five from Jordan 00:29:31.069 --> 00:29:33.710 and one from Derrick Rose. The Jordan effect. 00:29:34.009 --> 00:29:37.190 Now here's the sad part of the list, the droughts, 00:29:37.190 --> 00:29:40.609 or rather the deserts. Which teams have never 00:29:40.609 --> 00:29:44.069 had an MVP? It is a surprisingly long list, and 00:29:44.069 --> 00:29:45.759 some of them might surprise you. The Brooklyn 00:29:45.759 --> 00:29:48.880 Nets, Charlotte Hornets, Indiana Pacers, Memphis 00:29:48.880 --> 00:29:51.599 Grizzlies, New Orleans Pelicans, Orlando Magic, 00:29:51.759 --> 00:29:54.119 Toronto Raptors. Okay, a lot of the newer franchises. 00:29:54.259 --> 00:29:56.559 A lot of expansion teams. But the one that always 00:29:56.559 --> 00:30:00.079 surprises people? The Detroit Pistons. The Pistons? 00:30:00.079 --> 00:30:02.839 No way! They won three championships. They did, 00:30:03.019 --> 00:30:05.710 but think about how they won. The bad boys in 00:30:05.710 --> 00:30:07.869 the late 80s were a defensive unit. Isaiah Thomas 00:30:07.869 --> 00:30:09.910 was their leader, but he was playing in the era 00:30:09.910 --> 00:30:12.230 of Magic and Bird and Jordan. Right, he was never 00:30:12.230 --> 00:30:14.349 going to win over those guys. He never had the 00:30:14.349 --> 00:30:17.289 statistical dominance to overtake them. And then 00:30:17.289 --> 00:30:20.869 the 2004 go into work, Pistons were the ultimate 00:30:20.869 --> 00:30:23.109 team. They didn't have a singular superstar. 00:30:23.430 --> 00:30:25.869 Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Ben Wallace, 00:30:26.009 --> 00:30:28.700 they were all great. But none of them were MVPs. 00:30:28.880 --> 00:30:30.779 That really highlights the difference between 00:30:30.779 --> 00:30:33.339 best team and most valuable player. Sometimes 00:30:33.339 --> 00:30:35.440 those things align and sometimes they're complete 00:30:35.440 --> 00:30:38.059 opposites. Exactly. It's a fascinating dynamic. 00:30:38.319 --> 00:30:41.220 So we've covered the hardware, the voters, the 00:30:41.220 --> 00:30:43.740 legends, the anomalies, the rules, the teams. 00:30:44.440 --> 00:30:46.480 What does this all mean when we zoom out? What's 00:30:46.480 --> 00:30:48.700 the biggest takeaway? I think the biggest takeaway 00:30:48.700 --> 00:30:51.839 is. The standard of excellence this award represents. 00:30:52.059 --> 00:30:53.640 We mentioned the Hall of Fame earlier. Yeah, 00:30:53.660 --> 00:30:56.460 you said it's a guarantee. Virtually. Every single 00:30:56.460 --> 00:30:59.720 eligible player who has won the MVP award has 00:30:59.720 --> 00:31:02.779 been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball 00:31:02.779 --> 00:31:05.319 Hall of Fame. Every single one. Every one. If 00:31:05.319 --> 00:31:07.559 you win this trophy, you are immortal. Period. 00:31:07.880 --> 00:31:09.980 Derrick Rose is the only question mark because 00:31:09.980 --> 00:31:12.700 he is not eligible yet and his career path was 00:31:12.700 --> 00:31:15.420 so unusual. But history suggests that the trophy 00:31:15.420 --> 00:31:17.640 is a golden ticket to Springfield. That really 00:31:17.640 --> 00:31:19.779 puts it in perspective. It's not just a nice 00:31:19.779 --> 00:31:22.680 plaque for the year. It's a validation of an 00:31:22.680 --> 00:31:25.019 entire life's work. It is the ultimate individual 00:31:25.019 --> 00:31:27.359 accolade in the sport. There's nothing higher 00:31:27.359 --> 00:31:29.740 for the regular season. So here is a thought 00:31:29.740 --> 00:31:31.940 to leave you with as we wrap up. We talked about 00:31:31.940 --> 00:31:35.000 Shai Gilgis -Alexander winning in 2025. We talked 00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:38.619 about Jokic, Giannis, Embiid, Nash, Dirk. Are 00:31:38.619 --> 00:31:41.359 we permanently in an era where the best player 00:31:41.359 --> 00:31:43.920 in the American League is no longer American? 00:31:44.279 --> 00:31:47.109 It is a totally valid question. The infrastructure 00:31:47.109 --> 00:31:49.690 for development globally has caught up. And in 00:31:49.690 --> 00:31:51.809 some ways, you could argue it has surpassed the 00:31:51.809 --> 00:31:54.589 domestic pipeline. The next face of the NBA might 00:31:54.589 --> 00:31:57.869 be French or Canadian or Australian or Slovenian. 00:31:57.890 --> 00:32:00.210 The world champion title that the NBA winners 00:32:00.210 --> 00:32:02.549 get is finally starting to feel like it involves 00:32:02.549 --> 00:32:05.369 the whole world. And what about that 65 game 00:32:05.369 --> 00:32:08.299 rule? Are we going to see a future legendary 00:32:08.299 --> 00:32:11.579 season? I'm talking 35 points, 15 rebounds, just 00:32:11.579 --> 00:32:14.279 total undeniable dominance get disqualified from 00:32:14.279 --> 00:32:15.960 the history books simply because a guy rolled 00:32:15.960 --> 00:32:18.480 his ankle and played 64 games. It is bound to 00:32:18.480 --> 00:32:20.779 happen eventually. It's inevitable. We almost 00:32:20.779 --> 00:32:23.980 saw it with a bead. And when it does, the debate 00:32:23.980 --> 00:32:27.660 about value versus availability is going to explode 00:32:27.660 --> 00:32:30.160 all over again. What's more valuable? Is the 00:32:30.160 --> 00:32:32.299 best player the one who plays the most or the 00:32:32.299 --> 00:32:35.119 one who plays the best when he's out there? The 00:32:35.119 --> 00:32:37.720 league has made its decision for now. I can't 00:32:37.720 --> 00:32:39.720 wait for the Twitter threads on that one. It's 00:32:39.720 --> 00:32:42.420 going to be absolute chaos. It will be. But that's 00:32:42.420 --> 00:32:45.259 what makes the NBA so fun. The debates never 00:32:45.259 --> 00:32:48.680 end. Thanks for diving deep with us on the MVP. 00:32:48.900 --> 00:32:51.539 It's a history of giants, bureaucrats, and global 00:32:51.539 --> 00:32:53.880 takeovers. We'll catch you on the next one. Keep 00:32:53.880 --> 00:32:54.599 watching the games.