Checking in on where Victor Oladipo stands in the NBA MVP race

The “contenders,” part 1

Any one of these five players still has a realistic possibility of finishing as the runner-up: Anthony Davis, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James.

Of this group, Davis is the one with the most juice coming around the final turn. MVP narratives are always key, and hoisting a team on your back when you lose your All-Star starter teammate to a torn Achilles is a pretty good one.

He’s been averaging 33.3 points, 13.3 rebounds, 2.4 blocks and 2.4 steals per game since Boogie went down while leading the team to an 8-5 record over that time. It’s what you would call “video game numbers,” but no one is that good at NBA 2K.

Most impressively though, Davis has New Orleans – a team that looked dead in the water a few weeks ago – up to seventh in the West and a half game out of third place. At this point, only an injury or the Pelicans completely falling out of the playoff race would keep him out of the top three.

Giannis, on the other hand, was the early favorite over the season’s first month. Since then, his team acquired Eric Bledsoe, Jabari Parker came back and his coach lost his job. Amidst it all, his numbers have dropped a smidgen across the board, but still remain largely ridiculous.

According to Basketball-Reference.com, only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and David Robinson have ever had seasons with the combination of points, rebounds, assist, steals and blocks that Giannis currently puts up on a nightly basis. His true shooting percentage dwarfs theirs in those comparable seasons.

The best part of Giannis’ case has been how the Bucks fall apart whenever he’s off the floor. Conventional wisdom says that Jabari Parker returning to perk up bench units would help. That hasn’t happened, not even a little. Since Parker’s return, the Bucks are 11.1 points per 100 possessions worse with Giannis off the court. The Greek Freak is a lock for the top-five.