Luka, Jokić & SGA are early MVP favorites, Dame calls Bucks Giannis’ team | NBA | FIRST THINGS FIRST

updated MVP odds coming out nikolic who I famously believed in before anyone once called jordanes per Sports illustrator is favored at minus 1225 he's averaging 2612 and9 followed by SGA Luca then yanis in quite a gap to Tatum at fifth Brew who is most likely to steal the MVP from nikolic I'm going to surprise you okay and I don't I got I've got reasons why I'm not saying this guy that guy that I won't go there cuz I don't know what your your pick is but I'm going to go with Jason Tatum oh wow now I think Luca and I'm I'm a voter not Luca uh joic is the front runner and it's weird because the 26 points in today's NBA doesn't seem like a ton he's 14th in the league in scoring but 26 points 12 boards nine assists 58% shooting but I think he's the front runner but after him I think Tatum should be higher I don't know if that he should be second but I think he should be be higher on that list now here's the thing and we talked about it a bit earlier all you heard this week at Allstar Weekend was Tatum talking about being the MVP or why he doesn't get enough love it reminds me of Joel embiid a year ago like embiid was all but begging for the MVP award and I'm telling you I do believe Jason T he wasn't begging but all this talk and now he really it's really out there like why isn't Jason Tatum being talked about as an MVP why isn't he in the conversation I think that's going to put him in the conversation they have the best record by a mile they're on Pace to win 64 let's say they win 65 66 games now that's hard to deny he's clearly their best player 278 and five and he's leading them in the in the points rebounds and assists so I think that with all the chatter kind of putting him in the discussion now and then they're having the best record by a good margin and then his numbers and him leading them in so many categories I think he's going to rise in the rankings now I still think joic would win it over him but I'm GNA go with Tatum okay so the the push back I would have on the Tatum embiid comp is that embiid had finished second backto back years before he ended up winning it Tatum I looked it up uh yesterday when we were talking about this has never even gotten one first place vote he has finished fourth and he has finished sixth but there has never been one voter that was like he was the MVP as opposed to embiid who a lot those were one of them was close you know and so I'm going to say Luca and so Lucas season is so I think it's less working than you think so Lucas season is bananas he's 349 and9 uh on 49 on efficiency 49% from the field 38% from three the reason he is not higher is because of their seed right right seven but they're only they're only four games back at Denver and so joic whose numbers are not as good as Lucas the the the Gap is I understand Denver's third and the Mavs are seven but it's only a four game gap and the MVP the last three years has come from the third seed the sixth seed the third seed so for we had a stretch for like seven out of eight years it was the right right uh that has when Denver was six you may not know did they win 50 when Denver was six no I think they had 48 wins that year okay because that's kind of been other than Westbrook with the triple double that's kind of been a and then I want to throw out one if you're you know if you want to take a long shot bet he's not on the graphic he's 100 to one but I think he's got a better than one in 100 chance and that's Jaylen Brunson if so if the Knicks climb they don't have to get the one seed they're not going to but they they were you know right there at around the two seed till they lost four straight before the break especially with Julius Randle out now potentially getting surgery there's no other Allstar on the team his his numbers are excellent that he's I would put Mitchell have a better chance than I think people look at the other Cavs better than the other NS they they are and so the I just again I don't think Jaylen brunson's going to win it but a long shot but I think I think if the Mavs finish in the top four l a great candidate he's having a phenomenal year but here's the thing right now at this moment there's a feeling like that team is under achieving and I think they are and you're not going to win MVP if that's the case coming up the most motivational segment in all of sports TV already it's the bub list no wild have F time no you you got to get a letter man well I got to run to the post office all right so despite some LS in my Milwaukee the Bucks do have the fourth fourth best odds pardon me for the title coming out of the All-Star break Giannis hoping to get it done again in Milwaukee this time alongside Damen Lillard who he thinks is now the face of the franchise here's what he said I ride with d like I've been saying this over and over again this is his team down the stretch he's going to get the ball there's nothing else that we will do I don't know how else to put it I don't know what else to say but at the end of the day he has to believe it too Brew your reaction I know what to say what I don't like it okay I don't like it look I I I get wanting to make Dame feel at home and comfortable and if you want to say this is our team okay if you want to say Dame's our closer he's one of the greatest Shooters he's one of the greatest clutch shooters that that's fine but his team you're the guy you're the best player on the team you're the guy that's won two MVPs you're the guy that's won a championship you're the guy that's been in Milwaukee's whole career this has gone too far this is way overboard I mean there and I I'm not saying it's the end of the world but the Skeptics the Skeptics would say okay one is he setting up an excuse like people accusing doc of putting out pre excuses for when they get beat in the second round right like is is he putting out a pre- excuse It's Dame's team everything changed when when Dame here it's his team or or is he saying he doesn't want the pressure of leading a team you know with all these expectations why do you think he's saying I think he's trying to be nice I think I think Dame clearly is their closer even though it might be Middleton here or there you know but Dame's a closer and maybe that's what he meant but I think he's trying to just be nice but I just think it's going gone too far and it it makes you we we've seen him as the alpha obviously Giannis but it makes you feel like dude does he not want like why are you giving this team up so I LeBron wasn't GNA give up his team until he was you know past his Prime and right he still really has the the um I mean LeBron was nice you remember his rookie year he came as his Ricky DAV Junior and when LeBron when the best player on a team defers it's usually not good thank you so you agree with me oh I agree with you I I just I'm trying to understand why Giannis is saying it because Giannis doesn't think Dame's better than him Yan Yannis doesn't think anybody's better than him which he shouldn't right Yannis Giannis legitimately might be the best player in the world and if you are the ninth best player in the world legitimately you probably should think you're the best so you know what I mean when you actually might be in at worst you're third so I'm trying to figure out why he's saying cuz here's the thing Giannis just keeps saying weird stuff and I can't quite figure it out so and Wilds pointed out yesterday the end of season press conference was weird but I I almost wrote it off in that man guys right after their season ends and they have to talk we have a lot of instances of weird quotes LeBron's like hey I'm still reaching LeBron and you're still whack that press conference was a a tough moment like there things whatever um but then it was he also we didn't even talk about on the show the other day he was like man I've had four coaches in 6 months stuff's hard it's like buddy we all kind of know like you had a hand in at least some of those coaching changes and then the other quote that you know he talked about you know I I love Drew I miss Drew but now Dame and now this part of it I I feel like Giannis is attempting to be the vocal leader and I don't know that necessarily that is something that is coming easy to him right now he's attempting to message things that the that he's just maybe not doesn't have the firmest grasp on because I agree with you I think his heart is in the right place I think he thinks this is what is going to lead to the most winning but it is such an odd thing to hear a player of his caliber in his atic Prime talking about a player who's never been in quite that caliber who is on the downside like not not like Dame is he's not having a great year by his standard correct his scoring which you expect the scoring to be down but it's from 32 to 24 but field goal percentage three-point percentage small aging player so it's what you'd expect so maybe I I think like I said Giannis is trying to make him feel good maybe this will give him a boost for the second half of the season but all the things things you said combined with this if you put them together there's no failure in sports uh we've had four coaches and six you know six months now this is not my team it's his that is stuff where it's like I don't I don't want this pressure that LeBron James has to play on every single game I don't want this pressure that Anthony Davis had I don't want this pressure of like Championship orust baby like nobody's just we're not getting excited about your 30 and 12 during the regular season anymore it feels like he's saying it's a weird thing though because he's already won the title so he's kind of you know but he's but he's got his ring we talk MC Jones next for reasons I don't understand thanks for watching subscribe here to get more from the show and to check out clips from other shows on FS1

Channel: First Things First

Views: 214,901

Keywords: NBA, Basketball, First Things First, Nick Wright, Dallas Mavericks, OKC Thunder, Denver Nuggets, NBA MVP, Chris Broussard, Kevin Wildes, Luka, SGA, Jokic, Damian Lillard, Giannis, Milwaukee Bucks, Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokić, NBA MVP rankings, MVP rankings, NBA Basketball, fs1, fox sports, fox sports 1, sports, sports talk, 2023-24 nba season, eastern conference, western conference, sports show, sports debate, nba news, nba talk

Id: IFK94av4a3M

Length: 10min 50sec (650 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 22 2024