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- Lebron James – Lakers
Last Week’s Ranking: #1
25.6 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 8.0 APG, 50.2% FG, 35.1% 3P
The Lakers are currently on a 4-game losing streak over the past week. Over that span, LeBron has seen his stats take a slight decline and it’s quite obvious that LeBron and the Lakers are missing Anthony Davis & Dennis Schroeder. He has a chance to separate himself from the rest of the pack while AD recovers from a Calf Strain, but LeBron is not off to a good start with the Lakers struggling so much. There are still another 3 months left in the regular season so there is plenty of time to solidify the MVP case, but he does have to step it up a notch if he wants the award. - Joel Embiid – 76ers
Last Week’s Ranking: #2
29.6 PPG, 11.2 RPG, 3.1 APG, 51% FG, 40.5% 3P
While his rebounding numbers took a big leap, Embiid’s overall shooting percentage took a pretty big decline in the last week. Joel had an unbelievable 50-point performance vs Chicago last Friday, but the 3 games after that he shot 26.4% from the field on 17.7 Field-Goal Attempts. Even though his defense was great in those games, it was the other way around on offense. If it weren’t for missing 6 games so far he would be in 1st place right now, but if Embiid can stay on this pace for the rest of the year and limit his games he is sitting out, he can easily win the MVP. - Damian Lillard – Blazers
Last Week’s Ranking: #3
29.6 PPG, 8.0 APG, 4.4 RPG, 44.7% FG, 37.9% 3P
Portland is on a slump that is reminiscent of the Lakers’ slump. They are on a 3-game losing streak and Lillard didn’t play up to his standards from this year. It doesn’t help that McCollum and Nurkic are still out, but on a positive note I do think that Lillard has played the best of the Top 3 candidates over the past week and has helped close the gap a little more. - Steph Curry – Warriors
Last Week’s Ranking: #5
30 PPG, 6.3 APG, 5.5 RPG, 47.9% FG, 41.6% 3P
Steph has played pretty well over the last week and his team performed at a .500 level. He rises in the rankings over Jokic and is on pace to have another great season. James Wiseman should be coming back soon so the Warriors can only get better from here on out. - Nikola Jokic – Nuggets
Last Week’s Ranking: #4
26.9 PPG, 10.9 RPG, 8.4 APG, 56% FG, 41.9% 3P
As stated last week, Jokic would likely find himself in the top 2 or 3 in the MVP race if it weren’t for the Nuggets being a disappointment so far this year. After a bad loss to the Wizards last night, the Nuggets have now lost 4 of their 6 games. Despite that, Jokic is still playing at a really high-level (52.9% from 3-pt range) over the last week. If the Nuggets don’t start winning more games, Jokic won’t even crack the top 3 let alone winning the MVP. - Giannis Antetokounmpo – Bucks
Last Week’s Ranking: #7
28.9 PPG, 11.7 RPG, 5.9 APG, 55.5% FG, 1.3 BPG
The reigning 2-time MVP is once again having an unreal season and the Bucks are beginning to take off with being a 4-game winning streak. It’ll be hard for Giannis to win another MVP due to voter fatigue, but it’s really hard to keep him from rising up the rankings. - Kawhi Leonard – Clippers
Last Week’s Ranking: #6
26.7 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 4.9 APG, 51.0% FG, 38.4% 3P
Kawhi is always consistent and over the last week his numbers were very similar to what he has been doing all year. He stays the same at #6 with the Clippers splitting their last 4 games. - James Harden – Nets
Last Week’s Ranking: UR
24.9 PPG, 11.1 APG, 7.5 RPG, 47.8% FG, 39.8% 3P
Harden catapults to 8th in this week’s update with Brooklyn on an 8-game winning street and having averaged a near Triple-Double. The Nets are playing at the highest level in the league and doing so without Kevin Durant. It’ll be interesting to see how the Big 3 will play together consistently going forward. - Luka Doncic – Mavericks
Last Week’s Ranking: #8
28.5 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 9.0 APG, 47.4% FG, 35.3% 3P
The Mavericks had some games cancelled due to COVID protocols, but have 2-1 since their return. Luka has been leading the way and even improved from 3-pt range over that span. He’s very close to being able to break-through and climb steadily up the rankings if he can continue to play well and Dallas continues to improve. - Donovan Mitchell – Jazz
Last Week’s Ranking: #9
24.1 PPG, 5.3 APG, 4.6 RPG, 42.5% FG, 38.6% 3P
Utah has the best record in the league this year, but there hasn’t been one player that has stood out as the clear-cut best on the team. Rudy Gobert has a case for that title along with Mitchell and it doesn’t help that Mitchell hasn’t done much to help put himself over the other guys on this list. Still, he is having another really good year and is a big reason why the Jazz are contenders this year.