Giannis Antetkounmpo deserved the NBA's MVP award and it's ridiculous to say otherwise

There have been plenty of years in the NBA’s history where the MVP race was extremely close and the winner was subject to debate.

This year was definitely not one of those years. Giannis Antetokounmpo deserved the award and suggesting otherwise is completely ridiculous. There’s no other way to put it.

Yes, other players had impressive seasons. LeBron James, James Harden and Luka Doncic all had spectacular seasons that deserve to be recognized. But they all pale in comparison to what Antetokounmpo did on the court this season.

Giannis just had one of the most productive seasons ever

Let’s just start here. His player efficiency rating for this season of 31.86 is the highest PER of all-time, per Basketball Reference.  Like, ever. The most efficient season in the NBA’s history.

That broke a 58 year old record held by Wilt Chamberlain who had a 31.82 PER in the 1962-63 season (!!!!). Y’all know how hard it is to break any record Wilt has, right? Giannis did it.

But PER isn’t the end-all, be-all. It’s just one stat. Okay. Fine. He’s also the Defensive Player of the Year and one of three players to win the award in one season. The other two? Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon. That’s greatness.

And another thing. His averages of 29.5 points, 13.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game are all pretty spectacular. But they get even more jaw dropping when you realize that he was doing all of this in just 30.4 minutes per night.

That’s the lowest minutes average for an MVP. Ever.

That’s an MVP, folks. Well deserved.

The other cases just weren’t strong enough

Certainly, the other players in the running for MVP had legitimate claims to make.

LeBron James had one of his most productive seasons ever and led the NBA in assists at 35 years old while maintaining his pace as a scorer. James Harden’s 34.3 points per game is the 15th highest scoring average ever. And at a certain point, it felt like he could’ve averages 40 a night.

But at the end of the day, none of them were as consistent as Antetokounmpo. He was the best player on the NBA’s best team during the regular season and he showed that every single night — even in limited minutes.

In a normal season, both James and Harden would’ve been more than deserving of an MVP. If Antetokounmpo doesn’t exist, James probably wins it in a landslide.

But, instead, Giannis made history. Now, he’s reaping the benefits. It’s that simple.