Report: Giannis Antetokounmpo wins NBA MVP over LeBron James, James Harden
The NBA will announce that Giannis Antetokounmpo is the 2019-20 league Most Valuable Player.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Milwaukee Bucks forward won the award over Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James and Houston Rockets guard James Harden.
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo has won his second consecutive MVP award, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 18, 2020
The award is Antetokounmpo’s second straight, putting him on a long but elite list of players to win consecutive MVPs, joining Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Moses Malone, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan, Steve Nash, Tim Duncan, LeBron James and Stephen Curry.
Of those players, only Nash did not win an NBA championship. Antetokounmpo, 25, is seeking his first. The Bucks were knocked out of the NBA playoffs in 2020 by the Miami Heat in the second round of the playoffs.
Antetokounmpo also won Defensive Player of the Year this season, marking an accomplishment that puts him in even more exclusive company. Only Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon have won MVP and DPOY in the same season.
Antetokounmpo averaged 29.5 points, 13.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists, one steal and one block this season. He shot 55.3 percent from the field and 30.7 percent from 3-point range. He also increased his 3-point output, hitting 1.4 shots from behind the arc, doubling his previous career high from last season.
The Bucks earned the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs with a league best 56-17 record but didn’t get to the conference finals. Antetokounmpo missed the fifth and final game of the series against the Heat because of an ankle injury he suffered earlier in the round.
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