2018 NBA MVP Race: Award Announcement Date and Top Contenders
Playoff time in the NBA also means award voters have a full season of sample size to draw on when deciding who will take home the league's most coveted individual honors, and the 2017-18 MVP race features a familiar face as well as a couple of contenders looking for the recognition for the first time.
The MVP, as well as a number of other accolades, will be unveiled at the 2018 NBA Awards show, which airs on TNT June 25 at 9 p.m. ET.
The thought here is four-time MVP LeBron James, James Harden and Anthony Davis are the top three contenders for the honor this season.
That James and Davis are in the race is a testament to their closing stretches of the season, as Stephen Campbell of OddsShark wrote of the MVP battle on March 3, "the race for the MVP Award is all but over in the eyes of oddsmakers. Houston Rockets superstar James Harden is the undisputed -290 favorite."
The Houston Rockets man is familiar with coming close considering he finished in second in the MVP voting in 2015 and 2017, but he is the favorite this time around after leading the league in points per game at 30.4 and finishing third with 8.8 assists a night.
His team also finished with the best record in the NBA at 65-17 and was able to shift into cruise control down the stretch largely because of his ability as a facilitator and scorer.
James' Cavaliers were not able to shift into cruise control and are the Eastern Conference's No. 4 seed heading into the playoffs. Still, he was as durable and impressive as ever and led the league in total minutes while playing all 82 games in his 15th season.
James finished third in the league with 27.5 points a night and second with 9.1 assists per game.
He also kept the Cavaliers afloat amid Kevin Love's injuries and significant roster turnover that started before the season when they shipped Kyrie Irving to the Boston Celtics.
Cleveland also traded away Isaiah Thomas, Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose, Jae Crowder, Channing Frye and Iman Shumpert and acquired George Hill, Rodney Hood, Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson, but James still has them well-positioned to make a charge at a fourth straight trip to the NBA Finals.
If there is a knock on James it comes on the defensive side considering Cleveland is an abysmal 29th in the league in defensive rating, per NBA.com. The team's defensive rating was actually better when James was off the floor (104.9) than when he was on it (110.9), per NBA.com.
He wasn't the only one who had to carry a team facing adversity, though, as Davis guided the New Orleans Pelicans to the playoffs even though DeMarcus Cousins hasn't played since Jan. 26 because of a season-ending Achilles injury.
Davis saved his best for when Cousins was sidelined and averaged 35.0 points, 13.0 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2.2 blocks per game in February, 28.1 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per game in March, and 28.3 points, 11.2 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game in April.
It was an astounding stretch of individual brilliance, and the 48-34 Pelicans are heading to the postseason for just the second time since 2011 as a result.
