Luka? Giannis? Tatum? 100 league insiders make their picks

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There is a close race for the trophy.

The Boston Celtics forward, who is averaging a career-high 30.2 points per game, claimed 47 first-place votes and was on 98 of 100 ballots cast in the 2022-23 debut of the NBA Most Valuable Player straw poll.

Following the NBA's announcement of its newly christened slate of awards earlier this week, it was decided that the league's highest individual honor would be named after Michael Jordan. Bird won it three times in a row in 1984.

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo received 36 first-place votes and Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic received 10 first-place votes to round out the top three.

The gap between first and second place is the second-closest between first and second place since the season began.

A straw poll vote for the first time in his career was earned by Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans.

To get a sense of where the race is at a third of the way through the season, 100 media members were asked to participate in an informal poll. To make the balloting as realistic as possible, there were at least two voters from each of the league's 28 markets.

As with the NBA's official voting at the end of the season, voters were asked to submit a five-player ballot, and results were calculated using the league's scoring system: 10 points for each first-place vote, 7 points for second, 5 points for third, and

Rounding out the top five were Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, who had six first-place votes, and the Denver Nugget center, who had one first-place.

Five players received a first place vote.

Others who received votes were Memphis guard Ja Morant, Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker, and Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis.

History shows that the lead of the leader in the first poll may not be safe.

In the first round of the straw poll, Curry received 94 of 100 first-place votes, the most ever given to a single player.

A slim early lead disappeared in 2020. He was tied for 13th in the officialMVP ballot after falling to fifth in the straw poll.

Jokic was the winner in both seasons.

It is the first time in the history of the straw polls that no player got 100 votes.

That doesn't mean that Tatum isn't in a good position to stay on top. He is off to the best start of his career, with averages of 30.2 points, 8.3 rebound and 4.1 assists. Robert Williams III, who has yet to play this season due to knee surgery, has been missed by the Celtics.

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The straw poll that Antetokounmpo finds himself looking up at is the Celtics' position in the East. With co-stars Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday missing significant time with injuries, the two-time NBA Most Valuable Player has led the Milwaukee Bucks through a challenging opening third of the season.

Only Antetokounmpo has a vote in all the straw polls. Over the past four seasons, he has finished outside the top three in eight polls.

In Dallas, Doncic has averaged a Western Conference-leading 33.0 points, 8.4 rebound and 8.6 assists.

The biggest obstacle to their early-season candidacies is their team's struggles on the court. Boston and Milwaukee have the best records in the NBA, but Dallas and Golden State are not far behind. Curry landed on 58 of the 100 ballots because he fell in the same range as Jokic in the first round of voting last year, which is why he won the award.

Curry was either lower on the ballot or left off entirely because of Golden State's.500 record. The news that Curry would be out for a few weeks because of a left shoulder injury was first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski.

The only player who has missed more than 10 games and won the season's Most Valuable Player award is Allen Iverson, who did it in the 1978-79 season. When he won the award in 2001, he missed 11. Curry is playing for a team that has gone 14-15 to start the season and he is shooting 43.4% from 3-point range.

The games are on Friday.

Warriors-76ers, 7:30 p.m.

Nuggets-Lakers, 10 p.m.