NBA 2022 MVP race – final

(Originally posted on Saturday, 19 November 2022)

For the sake of completeness I have to post these final lists for the season 2021-22.

All the statistical data I used I found on this site:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/

I described my way of calculating the MVP and the MFP values in these posts:
Comparing NBA MVPs
Most frustrated NBA players

Because of the pandemic some players missed some games due to safety protocols without any fault of their own. It means that the results are skewed and there's nothing I can do about it. Well, some injuries happen also without any fault of the players and it also influences the results. We have to live with it.

The final NBA 2022 MVP race list is this:

1. Nikola Jokic:    1987.4    (team wins: 48)
2. Joel Embiid:    1834.6    (team wins: 51)
3. Giannis Antetokounmpo:    1817.0    (team wins: 51)
4. Devin Booker:    1785.2    (team wins: 64)
5. Jayson Tatum:    1678.0    (team wins: 51)
6. Luka Doncic:    1626.2    (team wins: 52)
7. Trae Young:    1503.3    (team wins: 43)
8. Karl-Anthony Towns:    1494.1    (team wins: 46)
9. DeMar DeRozan:    1460.2    (team wins: 46)
10. Chris Paul:    1448.1    (team wins: 64)
11. Stephen Curry:    1445.4    (team wins: 53)
12. Mikal Bridges:    1359.0    (team wins: 64)
13. Ja Morant:    1335.7    (team wins: 56)
14. Desmond Bane:    1297.4    (team wins: 56)
15. Pascal Siakam:    1278.5    (team wins: 48)
16. Donovan Mitchell:    1275.6    (team wins: 49)
17. Deandre Ayton:    1234.4    (team wins: 64)
18. Rudy Gobert:    1233.5    (team wins: 49)
19. Kevin Durant:    1221.3    (team wins: 44)
20. Miles Bridges:    1220.4    (team wins: 43)

Nikola Jokic won the race and he also became the official NBA 2021-22 MVP, which means that my way of calculating MVP value is simply fantastic. In the last 46 NBA seasons my calculations were perfect (1st place on my list was the official MVP) 30 times and almost perfect (2nd place on my list was the official MVP) 9 times. So my calculations were either perfect or almost perfect 39 times in the last 46 NBA seasons! This is 85% of accuracy!

Joel Embiid finished second and to me it seems that it was the best opportunity EVER to give him the MVP award.


The final NBA 2022 MFP list is this:

1. Christian Wood:    918.5    (team wins: 20)
2. Saddiq Bey:    808.4    (team wins: 23)
3. LeBron James:    771.3    (team wins: 33)
4. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander:    770.6    (team wins: 24)
5. Franz Wagner:    748.6    (team wins: 22)
6. Dejounte Murray:    743.7    (team wins: 34)
7. Wendell Carter Jr.:    727.4    (team wins: 22)
8. Cole Anthony:    677.9    (team wins: 22)
9. Jae'Sean Tate:    671.3    (team wins: 20)
10. Mo Bamba:    660.7    (team wins: 22)
11. Harrison Barnes:    649.4    (team wins: 30)
12. Cade Cunningham:    646.9    (team wins: 23)
13. Jalen Green:    645.2    (team wins: 20)
14. Kevin Porter Jr.:    638.6    (team wins: 20)
15. Russell Westbrook:    638.1    (team wins: 33)
16. Jonas Valanciunas:    616.6    (team wins: 36)
17. Trae Young:    594.3    (team wins: 43)
18. De'Aaron Fox:    592.6    (team wins: 30)
19. Jusuf Nurkic:    555.9    (team wins: 27)
20. Julius Randle:    553.7    (team wins: 37)

There is only 1 player in the top-20 both on the MVP list and on the MFP list – Trae Young (7th and 17th).

LeBron James became the first player ever (in the time-span of my calculations, so starting from the season 1976-77) who had been in the top-3 on an MVP list BEFORE he was in the top-3 list on an MFP list. All the previous times it was the other way round.