5 African Players Who Could Potentially Win A NBA Regular Season MVP Award
The NBA is without a doubt the highest level of club basketball, consisting of several high-quality players from different parts of the world, all with the desire to test themselves against the best and eventually become the best.
A lot of the players in the NBA are African or of African descent and while most of them are great players, only a few can be considered MVP-calibre, which is what we are about to take a dive into.
If any player of African descent is going to win the NBA regular season MVP in the near future it’s probably going to be one of these five, they are playing at a very high level, and all haven’t really hit their primes just yet.
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Undoubtedly the best player on this list, he’s also the best player in the NBA right now, seeing as he’s the current Most Valuable Player in the league, an award he has won back to back in 2019 and in 2020.
The Greek-Nigerian has established himself as the best player in the league, elevating the Milwaukee Bucks to genuine contenders over the last two seasons.
Antetokounmpo has already made history by becoming the third player to win both MVP and Defensive Player of the year awards in one season, and he has his eye set on further history, looking to become the first player to win three consecutive MVP awards since Larry Bird in 1986.
The fact that Giannis is still only 26 years old is what makes this more interesting, his prime may still be yet to come, which is a scary thought considering all that he’s already achieved in the league.
He won the Most Improved Player award in 2017, the first time a Milwaukee Bucks player had ever won the award, he’s already been an All-Star 4 times, his first MVP award in 2019 made him only the second Bucks player after Kareem Abdul Jabbar to win the award.
With the way the league is shaping up ahead of 2020/21, Giannis Antetokounmpo is certainly one of the preseason favourites to win the MVP award once again, but as expected he will face stiff competition from top players scattered all around the NBA.
Joel Embiid
Cameroonian center, Joel Embiid is the face of the Philadelphia 76ers franchise and has been not only the best player on the team for a while but also one of the best if not the outright best center in the NBA right now.
Embiid was drafted 3rd overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2014 with the hopes that he would come and turn the fortunes of the franchise around but that didn’t happen, as he was plagued by injury and wouldn’t make his debut for the team until 2016.
When he did eventually start playing though, it became clear to see why Embiid was drafted so early, he put in great performances and helped the 76ers become actual contenders in the Eastern Conference.
His injury woes are not completely behind him though, Embiid still has never played more than 64 regular-season games in any of his 4 seasons as an NBA player. Still, he’s done enough in each of those seasons to lead Philadelphia to 3 consecutive playoff appearances.
Embiid at 26 years old is already a 3-time NBA All-Star and has been selected to 2 All-NBA teams, all while never really playing through a full season, which means if he can stay fit, he has a good chance at winning the MVP award this season or in subsequent seasons to come.
Pascal Siakam
Toronto Raptors Power Forward, Pascal Siakam is certainly one that fits into the diamond in the rough narrative, by the trend of his career so far he has had to constantly prove himself and dispel doubts about his ability.
Having been drafted 27th overall by the Toronto Raptors in 2016, many expected Siakam to be a bench option at best. While he initially started a lot of games because of injuries to key players, it wouldn’t be long before he returned to the bench and remained there for his first two seasons.
After playing his first two seasons majorly as a bench option, Pascal Siakam headed into the 2018-19 campaign, his 3rd season as a far more developed player, emerging as a two-way forward and a starter for the team.
He played in 80 of the 82 regular-season games, 79 as a starter. He would average 16.9 points per game to go along with 6.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists, making an improvement in his three-point percentage by 14 points to 36 percent, helping the Raptors to secure their first-ever NBA championship.
2019 proved to be a memorable year for Siakam, winning the Championship and also winning the NBA Most Improved Player award, and then signing a new 4-year deal worth $130 million with the Raptors, cementing his place as a key player for them.
His stats improved further the following season, averaging 22.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game, but the Raptors fell off, losing to the Boston Celtics in the playoff 2nd round, meaning they couldn’t retain their crown.
Heading into the new season as a 26-year old, Pascal Siakam may well be the main scoring option for the Raptors, meaning he wouldn’t be far from MVP consideration in the nearest future.
Bam Adebayo
One of those whose MVP status might be further down the line rather than an immediate thing, but if he keeps up his form from last season, there’s reason to believe Bam Adebayo will be a contender for MVP in the future.
23-year old Bam Adebayo is the youngest player on this list, which says a lot about his potential and very high ceiling because he’s already widely considered as a top 5 center in the NBA right now.
Born in New Jersey to a Nigerian father and American mother, Bam Adebayo is very conscious of both his nationalities and has made it clear that he’s open to representing either of the countries.
Bam was drafted 14th overall by the Miami Heat in 2017 and it took him till his 3rd season before he finally came into his own and started to deliver the kind of performances that make him eligible for this list.
The 2019/20 season was his first as a starter and Adebayo grabbed his chance with both hands, playing in 72 regular-season games, all from the start, averaging 15.9 points, 10.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game to help Miami secure a playoff spot.
In the playoffs he really stood up to be counted, playing 19 games and averaging 17.8 PPG, 10.3 RPG and 4.4 APG to help the Miami Heat make a playoff run to the NBA finals where they lost to the LA Lakers.
Miami realizes they could have a potential MVP on their hands and recently signed him on for 5 more years, a deal worth $163 million and could potentially rise to $195 million if certain clauses are met.
Victor Oladipo
It’s perhaps fitting that the 5th and final player on this list is also the oldest, 28-year-old Victor Oladipo was very much expected to be a superstar in the NBA and even though he hasn’t attained those heights quite yet, he still has time on his side.
The shooting guard was selected 2nd overall in the 2013 NBA draft, perhaps worthy to note that was the same draft class as Giannis who was the 15th pick and has gone on to have a far more successful career than Oladipo.
To be fair to him he’s not had a bad career at all, he’s not been a bust by any means, just that he was widely expected to be firmly in the MVP conversation by now if injuries had not been so cruel to him.
Even at that, he’s still had a lot of solid achievements in the league. He’s a 2-time All-Star, named in the All-NBA 3rd team, NBA all-defensive first team, NBA most improved player and led the league in steals all in 2018 where he averaged 23 points per game in his first season with the Indiana Pacers.
That year has been his best in the league so far, he got unlucky again with injuries and was out for more than a year, only just returning to action towards the tail end of last season.
If Victor Oladipo can stay fit, he’s certainly the star player and number one scoring option for the Indiana Pacers. With the kind of ability we know he possesses, there’s no reason he can’t be an MVP candidate soon.