5 non-American NBA players who could win MVP in the next 5 years
The NBA Most Valuable Player Award is an annual award given to the best player in every regular season.
In the history of the NBA, the award has been given 68 times to 37 recipients, with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar winning it the most times (six). Bill Russell (five), Michael Jordan (five), Wilt Chamberlain (four), LeBron James (four), Moses Malone (3), Larry Bird (3), Magic Johnson (3) have won the award at least thrice.
Meanwhile, Bob Petit (2), Karl Malone (2), Tim Duncan (2), Steve Nash (2), Steph Curry (2) Giannis Antetokounmpo (2) have won the coveted award twice.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar defined domination and winning throughout his career 🏆
-All-time points leader
-19x NBA All-Star
-6x NBA MVP
-6x NBA champion
Happy 74th birthday to the Lakers legend and the master of the skyhook https://t.co/Go0n0LDCAI
A few of the previous recipients of the NBA MVP awards are non-Americans. That included Nikola Jokic (Serbia), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece), Dirk Nowitzki (Germany), Tim Duncan (US Virgin Islands) and Hakeem Olajuwon (Nigeria).
On that note, here's a look at the five non-Americans who could clinch the NBA MVP award in the next five years.
#1 Luka Doncic
Luka Doncic was drafted to the NBA in 2018 as the no. 3 overall pick by the Atlanta Hawks. He was later traded to the Dallas Mavericks. In 2019, he was named the NBA Rookie of the Year, and was selected to the All-Rookie First Team.
In a league full of superstars, Luka Doncic enters the season as favorite to win NBA MVP.
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The Slovenian shooting guard made it to his first All-Star Game and the All-NBA First Team in his second season in the league. He averaged 28.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game.
He has been consistent since his debut season, finishing fourth in the MVP voting in 2020 behind James Harden, LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo. While he was the fans' favorite to clinch the MVP award in 2021, he wasn't a finalist, though.
In the next few years, Doncic has a huge chance of winning the NBA MVP award.
#2 Joel Embiid
Philadelphia 76ers selected Joel Embiid as the no. 3 overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft. But he didn't feature for two seasons due to injuries. He made his debut in the 2016-17 season, averaging 20.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game in 31 appearances with a field goal ratio of 46.6%.
The next season, the seven-foot Cameroonian center made his first All-Star appearance. He has since then been an All-Star player, averaging 24.8 points, 11.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 260 games. He recorded a career-high 28.5 points per game in the 2020-21 NBA season.