Ranking the 5 early NBA MVP candidates
It is only November, but it is never too late to see who has impressed enough to possibly be considered for MVP with just 15% of the games played so far.
The biggest surprise so far in the new season are the Boston Celtics, who lost their star free agent guard Gordon Hayward six minutes into the season. Since losing Hayward, they have gone 11-1, including winning 11 straight games.
Another surprise on the young season are those expected to be top teams struggling early such as the Cleveland Cavaliers (5-7) and Oklahoma City Thunder (5-7). Cleveland has reached three straight NBA Finals and are expected to contend for a fourth; while Oklahoma City added Carmelo Anthony and Paul George in the offseason.
This article will take a look at five of the top early candidates for MVP in the young season:
#5 Kyrie Irving - Boston Celtics
After Gordon Hayward was lost for most, if not all, of the 2017-18 season, the Boston Celtics surprised everyone by going 11-1 since then; which includes an 11-game winning streak to give them the NBA's best record at 11-2. A lot of the success goes to the play of Kyrie Irving, who the Cleveland Cavaliers traded to Boston in the offseason.
Irving leads the team in scoring at 20.3 PPG and ranks a tied-third in the league for steals with 1.92 SPG. If Boston is going to maintain this winning pace without Hayward, Irving will definitely be in the running for league MVP in his first season without LeBron James.