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Who is your pick for 2024-25 NBA MVP? Liberty also wins the controversial first title

Who is your pick for 2024-25 NBA MVP? Liberty also wins the controversial first title

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Congratulations to the Liberty on winning their first title in franchise history. Now that we’ve completed our NBA season preview, we can move on to the climax of Game 5.

Pacific Division Preview

Are there five playoff teams based here?

We preview the 2024-25 season leading up to opening night tomorrow by going through each division and each major individual award. This is the final division we can preview! We also received all individual awards except for MVP, which we’re tackling today. For each team, I will make a bold prediction and an assessment of BetMGM’s over/under values. Five πŸ₯Ά emojis on the hot seat meter mean job security. Five πŸ”₯ means we update this resume. Let’s take a look at the Pacific!

Best case scenario: Kawhi’s knee magically heals, Harden returns to 2019 form, and LA’s newfound strength proves better than Paul George’s as the Clippers reach at least the second round of the playoffs.

Worst case scenario: This is what happens at the start of the season! Kawhi is never really healthy, Harden is fine, and LA ends up in the lottery, which then trades their pick with OKC’s.

Trust in the Clippers: πŸ’ͺπŸ’ͺ

Best case scenario: The Budenholzer effect in the regular season puts them in the top two in the West, and the star power carries them deep into the playoffs in the West.

Worst case scenario: More from last season. A mediocre season for a good team, followed by a brief playoff appearance and no flexibility to make roster moves.

Trust in the Suns: πŸ’ͺπŸ’ͺπŸ’ͺπŸ’ͺ

Best case scenario: They avoid the Nuggets, their 3-point shooting bolsters the offense under JJ Redick, and the LeBron-AD combination carries them past the second round.

Worst case scenario: LeBron and A.D not Maintaining his health from last season, Redick is unable to convince everyone of his plan before a first-round playoff exit.

Trust in the Lakers: πŸ’ͺπŸ’ͺπŸ’ͺπŸ’ͺ

Best case scenario: DeRozan fits, this team is a monster in the fourth quarter, and the defensive improvements over last year put them in the top six.

Worst case scenario: The defense is a mess, the addition of DeRozan is unwieldy, and the Kings are starting to question whether Mike Brown is the right coach.

Trust in Kings: πŸ’ͺπŸ’ͺπŸ’ͺπŸ’ͺ

Best case scenario: Green won’t be suspended, the new guys fit in perfectly, Kuminga makes a leap and Curry has more Olympic moments as this team at least makes it to the second round.

Worst case scenario: Green can’t stay on the floor, Hield can’t replace Klay, and Steve Kerr struggles with Kuminga and Moses Moody. This all leads to exclusion from the play-in.

Trust in the Warriors: πŸ’ͺπŸ’ͺπŸ’ͺπŸ’ͺ

Price predictions

Who will be named MVP this season?

β€œ[Insert favorite player here] should have been the MVP!” This is the state of internet fandom and the approach to MVP voting results. Fans of the Thunder and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander felt like he was robbed last year. Mavericks fans and Slovenians thought the MVP hardware was stolen from Luka DončiΔ‡. Jayson Tatum can’t believe he didn’t win it. The current state of the MVP conversation is completely frustrating And incredibly encouraging for the NBA.

We will have crowded MVP fields for the foreseeable future. Maybe 20-year-old Victor Wembanyama will change that at some point by making it an annual occurrence. However, there are so many deserving stars in so many great situations in the league that there will be legitimate cases for at least three players every season. Maybe this year it will go to someone from the USA? That hasn’t happened since Harden won in 2017-18. With that in mind, here are BetMGM’s favorites for the upcoming season’s Most Valuable Player award.

Favorite: Luka DončiΔ‡ (+350)

Threats: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (+400), Nikola Jokić (+475), Giannis Antetokounmpo (+850), Anthony Edwards (+1200), Jalen Brunson (+1400), Jayson Tatum (+1500)

Darkhorse: Zion Williamson (+8000)

My prediction: SGA. OKC will probably win 60 games and he will be phenomenal.

Final controversy

The Liberty wins their first WNBA title πŸ—½πŸ†

The New York Liberty won Game 5 of the WNBA Finals 67-62 in overtime. It is the best WNBA Finals in league history. It’s one of the best basketball finals Period. Breanna Stewart continues to win at an insanely high level, and the Liberty’s role players – particularly Jonquel Jones (Finals MVP), Nyara Sabally and Leonie Feibich – highlighted the star combination of Stewie and Sabrina Ionescu, who combined to finish 5th on 34 from the field .

Instead of celebrating the Liberty’s first title after a 28-year wait, spectators with no interest in New York tried to figure out how the league and referees could get away with a very one-sided decision. The administration was poor. It followed the pattern of favoring the coach who had last complained in a post-game interview. But by the end of that piece, the controversy went from “This is a bad official act” to people on the Internet directly saying this was rigged.

Stewie was clearly on his way before being sent off with a foul. Each repeat angle showed no contact. The lynx challenged. The referees checked it. Then the crew chief said Alanna Smith was not in the official watch position, which is objectively absurd, but the call stood. Two free throws were wiped out before Kayla McBride missed a wide-open 3-pointer to secure the win. The Liberty won in overtime, but not without outcry. When I said previous people on the internet complained and blamed, I don’t mean random people in Mankato, Minnesota.

LeBron James: β€œI’m sorry, but that wasn’t a foul! Let the damn players dictate the outcome of a hard-fought, tested game.” He added a facepalm emoji.

Damian Lillard: β€œThe refs called this play like they knew the assignment in the second half, boy. Great game.”

Isaiah Thomas: β€œThey quietly cheated for NY but I get it lol.”

As the broadcast celebrated Liberty’s graduation and we arrived at the trophy ceremony, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert wore a dress with New York City buildings. As my friend Brennan, a Lynx fan, said in a group chat, “If she wasn’t planning on coming out covered in lutefisk when we win, that doesn’t seem fair.” It’s straight out of a Vince McMahon script. The optics don’t look that great when you add everything up.

Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said after the game, “I know all the headlines are going to be, ‘Reeve is crying foul.'” Bring it on. Right? Bring it on. Because this shit was stolen from us. Bring it on.”

In the end, McBride crushing this threesome will likely be for naught. However, that won’t stop non-Liberty fans from clouding this historic moment with legitimate questions. Many say that the NBA boomed in the ’80s after a rivalry emerged between Larry Bird and Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan entered the league And An alleged NBA lottery chicanery led to New York landing Patrick Ewing. Maybe this Finals controversy was the day the WNBA became president?

This was the best season in WNBA history – the start of something truly fun and special for a league that has found a new path in recent seasons. Regardless of who won, it deserved a more legitimate ending. But this is sport, people.

Bounce passes

That’s everything you need to know from the preseason.

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This is a pretty great article from Marcus Thompson about how stars still influence young NBA players.

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The Warriors have agreed to a three-year, $39 million contract extension with Moses Moody. This is officially a bargain.

Most clicked on in Friday’s newsletter: Hall of Famer Rick Barry is 80 years old but will cook for you And Your loved ones at pickleball.

(Top photo: Jordan Johnson / Getty Images )