Luka Doncic, Not LeBron James, Named Giannis Antetokounmpo's Biggest MVP Competition At Sportsbook

The 2020 NBA MVP race is largely viewed as a two-player competition between Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James. The Milwaukee Bucks’ forward is the heavy favorite, though the Los Angeles Lakers’ star has several weeks to try and close the gap.

One sportsbook, however, indicates that James isn’t the biggest threat to the reigning MVP.

DraftKings Sportsbook gives Luka Doncic +800 MVP odds, putting him just ahead of James at +900. Antetokounmpo is the odds-on favorite at -670.

James Harden is fourth with +1200 odds. No other player has better than +5000 MVP odds.

It’s hard to believe that Doncic actually has a better chance of winning the award than James.

James is the best player on the top team in the Western Conference. The Los Angeles Lakers have a 5.5-game lead as the No.1 seed with 23 games remaining. Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks are the No.7 seed, trailing the Lakers by 12 games in the loss column.

James has played seven more games than Doncic, who’s missed time with ankle injuries. James leads the NBA with 10.6 assists per game and shoots a higher percentage from the field than Doncic.

On the defensive side, James has a significant edge. James is seventh in the NBA in ESPN’s defensive real plus-minus (1.83). Doncic (-0.19) ranks 220th out of 495 players.

In a career-low 34.9 minutes per game, James is averaging 25.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals. The four-time MVP is shooting 49.6% from the field and 35.0% from three-point range.

Doncic does have some of the best numbers in the league. He’s averaging 28.5 points, 9.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists in 33.0 minutes per game. The 2019 Rookie of the Year is shooting 46.1% from the field and 31.5% from three-point range.

Doncic is fourth with a 28.00 PER, putting him seven spots ahead of James (25.68). Only Doncic, Harden and Antetokounmpo average more than 45 combined points, rebounds and assists.

Antetokounmpo is averaging 29.6 points, 13.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game. All of those averages per 36 minutes are better than they were last season when the Bucks’ star won the MVP award.

Antetokounmpo leads the league with an overall 7.87 real-plus minus. His 31.85 PER is currently the highest in NBA history.