On May 10, with the end of the 2024-2025 NBA regular season, the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award will be announced soon. As one of the highest individual honors in the NBA, this year's MVP competition has attracted special attention, not only because the three candidates are close in strength, but also because the "values" they represent are fundamentally different. How to define "most valuable"? This discussion about "player value" may be more meaningful than the result itself.

One of the most popular MVP candidates this season is Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous - Alexander. He led the young Thunder to a league-best record of 68 wins and 14 losses, averaging 32.7 points per game, making him the season's leading scorer. Under the widely circulated MVP selection criteria of " best player on the best team " , Alexander is undoubtedly the most typical representative. He carries the Thunder's banner on the offensive end and is also the team's leader and key player.

Another candidate is Nikola Jokic, the core center of the Denver Nuggets. His value is reflected in his versatility and stability: he averaged 29.8 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists per game, handing over a " quasi-triple-double " data. This is also the third time in NBA history that a player has averaged a triple-double for the entire season (the first two are Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook). More importantly, from the perspective of advanced data, the " net point difference " when Jokic is on the court and when he is not on the court is as high as 19.8 points, which is the first in the league. This means that his presence plays a decisive role in the victory or defeat of the Nuggets.

From this perspective, Jokic is not the " core of a strong team " , but the cornerstone of " turning a mediocre team into a strong team " . This is in stark contrast to Alexander's value model of " pushing a strong team to the championship " . Similarly, the Bucks' " Greek Freak " Antetokounmpo also has a good influence, and his personal " value " is assessed as 11 points, but the Bucks were eliminated in the first round, which greatly weakened their competitiveness in the MVP race.

But the MVP selection is not entirely determined by data. The final winner of the award is in the hands of 100 sports commentators and reporters. In addition to statistics and winning percentages, voters are easily moved by the " storyline " - for example, a young scoring champion leads a young team to become the best in the league, which is enough to move people's hearts. In comparison, Jokic and Antetokounmpo, who have won MVP three and two times respectively, may be slightly inferior in terms of " freshness " .

Currently, Alexander and Jokic are facing off in the second round of the playoffs, and the two led their respective teams to a 1-1 tie in the Western Conference semifinals . This has also made the MVP competition more intense in reality and public opinion. Regardless of who will win in the end, this season's MVP selection will surely become a microcosm of the diversification of " value " and will continue to trigger in-depth discussions among fans and experts on " what is the most valuable ."