Monthly MVP Ladder, January Edition

Rohan Agarwal
Jan 5, 2018
3 min read

It is the new year and we need to start this year with a bang! The Shark is introducing the new Shark4Sport's monthly MVP ladder. This is the Shark4Sport's January MVP ladder.

5. Kyrie Irving

What is there really to say about Kyrie Irving? He has been playing like the best point guard in the league so far. He has led his team to the most wins in the NBA with 31.

He has shown that the Celtics still have hope in the Eastern Conference without Gordon Hayward. But most of all he has proven to the world that he can thrive without Lebron James. That he can be a leader for his team. That he can be the No. 1 player on a championship team.

Kyrie has really shown he can be a facilitator too and not just a scorer. During Kyrie's days in Cleveland, he was the scorer and Lebron was the facilitator. At the start of this season there was a lot of skepticism about whether Kyrie would be the passer that the Celtics need.

He has also started taking more high percentage shots and letting the game come to him. He is shooting a career high 49% from the field.

If Kyrie keeps playing the way he has for the past few months he will have to be in the talk for MVP.

4. Giannis Antetokounmpo

Giannis Antetokounmpo has taken the NBA by shock this year. In 12 days of fan voting for the NBA All Star game Giannis has already accumulated a whopping 863,416 votes which is leading the NBA so far.

So far he is second in points with 29.3, only behind James Harden. The 7 foot monster also is leading the league in fastbreak points and is top 10 in the league in blocks.

Giannis has been unbelievable and he isn't showing any signs of stopping.

This man has to be in serious consideration for MVP.

3. Kevin Durant

While Curry has been gone for the past month Durant has been really shining for the Warriors. He is averaging 25.9 pts, 5.3 assists, and 7.1 rebounds and then to lead his team to a 30-9 record without Curry for a month is unbelievable.

Kevin Durant is the type of player that can not do much according to the box score, but still makes his team so much better.

The 7 footer also is leading the NBA in blocks per game with 2.3.

This guy can do everything and he has a ring to prove just that. The reigning Finals MVP may have something to say to his former teammate and reigning MVP Russell Westbrook after this season.

2. James Harden

James Harden went down with a Grade 2 hamstring injury against the Los Angeles Lakers. He will be out for at least 2 weeks, but that doesn't mean he is even close to out of the MVP race.

Before the injury he was averaging a league high 32.3 points per game. This is just unbelievable.

Last year the player averaging the most ppg was The Reigning MVP Russell Westbrook with 31.6 points per game.

If James Harden sustains this type of production after he comes back from injury, the MVP award will be pretty much a lock for Harden.

But that is a big if.

Doing what Westbrook did in sustaining that many points per game was not easy, but if any player can sustain that type of production it is the Beard.

1. Lebron James

Lebron James keeps proving year in and year out that age doesn't matter. He is enjoying arguably the best year of his career at 33 years.

He is averaging a third league highest 27.5 points per game. He is leading forwards in assists with 9.1 per game.

He is also posting a career high 78.5% free throw percentage.

He is breaking the NBA. In sports you should be near at the end of your prime by about 30. Lebron is breaking all barriers to play this good. He is playing some of the best basketball in his career at 33.

With Isaiah Thomas coming back Lebron's numbers with drop a bit, but he still has to be in the MVP race.

LBJ may not have a hairline, but he does have one amazing stat line.

Honorable Mentions: Russell Westbrook, Demar Derozan, Anthony Davis, Stephen Curry