NBA: Top 10 Candidates For MVP In 2015-16

It takes teamwork, defense, three-point shooting, a little luck and a top-10 player to win in the NBA. Over the years, we’ve learned this is the basic formula for winning a championship. Basketball is a team sport, but very few teams in the history of this league have won a title without an elite superstar leading the charge.

To that end, the NBA’s Most Valuable Player Award is particularly telling about not only the association’s alpha dog from year to year, but also about the team that should theoretically compete for a championship, if only for the simple fact that they have the league’s best player that year.

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As we all know, it doesn’t always work out that way. Since the NBA started giving out the award in 1956, the MVP recipient has only gone on to win a championship in that same season 23 times. Over the last 15 seasons, it’s only happened four times, but interestingly enough, that has occurred in three of the last four seasons.

MVP voters are getting smarter, but dumbing it down to voting for the best player on the best team doesn’t quite explain this recent phenomenon either. We want our MVPs to be the best players, yes, but we also look for team success, efficiency, elite advanced statistics, charisma and narrative.

Bearing all these factors in mind, which players have the most likely odds of winning the next Most Valuable Player Award? Here’s a look at the top 10 MVP candidates for the 2015-16 season.

Honorable Mentions: Chris Paul, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Marc Gasol, Kyle Lowry

Next: No. 10