We’ve been tracking the Hoops Habit MVP Ladder all season, and now the time has finally come to end this thing and crown someone the true NBA MVP.
The Most Valuable Player Award does not go to the “best” player, the one who has the best team, the one with the best narrative, or the one who has had a hot stretch to end the season (although voters seem to value some of these things anyway). Instead, it’s for the most valuable player over the entire regular season.
We had MVP-worthy seasons from several players this year, and it’s the first year in some time in which three players have a real shot at winning. Voters pick five players for the ballot, but plenty of other ballers deserve a shoutout, too.
NBA MVP Ladder: The Official 2021-2022 NBA MVP Ballot – Honorable Mentions
Karl Anthony-Towns – The best all-around season of his career for a Wolves team hoping to make the playoffs for just the second time since the 2003-2004 season.
Steph Curry – A down year (“just” averaging 26/5/6 while shooting 38 percent from three on the league’s most difficult shot diet) and injuries stymied what started as an MVP-caliber campaign. He still has the strongest distortive effect on opposing defenses in the league.
Ja Morant – The most exciting player in the NBA this season. His shot cooled off, and he missed a ton of games, but he’s the unquestioned best player on the second-best team in the NBA by record. He’s primed to enter the MVP conversation as soon as next year.
DeMar DeRozan – Clutch heroics and old-fashioned mid-range artistry briefly had DeMar on the ballot, and he proved himself worthy of the $82M contract the Bulls signed him to this past offseason.
Devin Booker – This one hurts. If someone wants to have Booker on the ballot in the fourth or fifth spot, I can’t fault them. He’s (probably) the best player on the NBA’s best team, and he even led the Suns to an 11-5 record without Chris Paul this season.