In recent times, a section of the NBA fan base has began to say that Paul George of the Oklahoma City Thunder is emerging as a candidate for the league’s Most Valuable Player award, and for good reason. PG has exploded in the month of February for an average of 35 points per game to go along with 8.4 rebounds and 5.4 assists per contest during that stretch as well. Since the beginning of the year’s second month, George has also put in some of his best performances of the season, from a 47 point triple-double outburst in a win over Portland to a 45 point effort while putting in 50 minutes in double overtime against the Utah Jazz.

However, there is also the 14 point game he put up in a loss to Sacramento while shooting just 4-for-19 from the field. While that was perhaps his one true bad performance during this period, and on the back end of a back to back after the overtime game the previous night, it should still not be ignored.

Now, the question remains with just over 20 games to go in the NBA’s regular season, who should take home the hardware as MVP? The Greek Freak or Paul George? Let’s take a look at the numbers and find out why, in my opinion, Giannis should be hoisting the trophy above his head come April.

1. The Best Player on the NBA’s Best Team

Let’s start off pretty simple before we get into numbers, shall we?

Simply put, Giannis checks off one of the main criteria of being an MVP front runner: being the best in leading the best.

As of writing this before their game tonight in Sacramento, the Milwaukee Bucks hold a 46-14 record. Not only does this have the Bucks with a two game lead in the Eastern Conference with a tiebreaker over the second-place Toronto Raptors, that is the best record in the NBA. Not only that, but Milwaukee is the best road team in the NBA and also hold their own against the cream of the crop in both conferences.

While team success may not play as much into MVP consideration in the NBA as it does in other sports like the NFL (see Westbrook’s historic MVP season with the Thunder as a 6th seed), it only does good things in benefiting Giannis’ case.

Giannis Antetokounmpo slams home a dunk over Sacramento’s Kosta Koufos (41) during their game on November 4, 2018

2. A Juggernaut in the Paint

Milwaukee fans have known for years that Giannis is one of the league’s premier menaces when it comes to getting it done inside, regardless of position and how much the opposition brings to the plate to try and stop him.

For the past 3 seasons, including this year, Giannis has been a top 5 player in terms of points in the paint per game, but this season has taken that to another level. So far in 2018-19, Antetokounmpo is averaging an otherworldly 17.6 points per game in the paint this season. Not only is that over two points more than Anthony Davis (15.02) in 2nd, it would be the highest average in that category since the legendary Shaquille O’Neal in 2002-03, when the Big Diesel put in an average of 19.58 from the paint.

Around 1/4 of Giannis’ shot attempts this season are dunks alone, and his 217 slams outpace the total of seven other teams, including the Pacers and Spurs.

3. Defensive Versatility

In many NBA circles, the phrase “he can defend 1 through 5” is occasionally brought up to describe special talents on the defensive end. From Scottie Pippen and Bruce Bowen to modern stars like LeBron James and Ben Simmons, defensive versatility has always been a valuable trait for a player to possess. Giannis can certainly be added to that list, as he is putting together a Defensive Player of the Year campaign as well. One of nine players in the league averaging over one steal and one block per game, Giannis also leads the league in nearly every major defensive metric, including:

Defensive Rating (98.1) One of two players in NBA with defensive rating under 100 (George: 104.0)

Defensive Win Shares (4.5) (George: 3.8)

Defensive Plus/Minus (5.4) (George: 0.7)

Arguably the best two-way player in the game today, Giannis can lock people down just as well as he dunks over them.

4. Consistency

One of the true marks of the greats in any sport is their ability to go out every night (or week in the case of the NFL) and be consistent in their performance, not letting a bad performance get in their head and drag them down. In the last couple of years, Giannis has acquired this trait in spades, molding into one of the most consistent players in the game.

Only nine times this season has the Greek Freak finished with fewer than 20 points, with only one game under double digits with 9 in a loss to the Miami Heat back in December. He has also found a teammate for at least one assist in every game this season, and has collected six or more rebounds in every one of his 55 games.

He has also consistently filled up the stat sheet in multiple categories, with 42 double doubles (MIL is 33-9 in said games) and 5 triple doubles (MIL is 5-0, winning by 22.2 per game) to his name this season. Compare that to Paul George’s 19 double doubles and one triple double, and Giannis can certainly be counted on night in and night out to put up the numbers needed to bring the Bucks wins.

5. In Rarefied Air

Like Paul George, Giannis is no stranger to flying under the radar. Coming into the NBA as a 15th pick labeled a project, he has developed into a consensus top 5 player in the NBA in just six short seasons, helping facilitate the revival of the Bucks on the NBA map in the process.

That makes his stat line this season that much more amazing.

Currently, Giannis is averaging 27.2 points, 12.7 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game. Were April 10th, the date of Milwaukee’s last game against George’s Thunder coincidentally, to come and go with Giannis still putting up these numbers, he would be one of only ten players in NBA history to put up season averages of 27 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 steal per game.

However, his efficiency is what really sets his season apart. Out of the 10 seasons that are recorded by Basketball Reference that fit this criteria, Giannis’ year would rank first in both Effective Field Goal Percentage (.598) and True Shooting Percentage (.640), as well as nearly a 10 percent advantage in two point percentage (.637 compared to Bob McAdoo’s .547).

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton (foreground) celebrate Giannis’ go-ahead tip-in against the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of their 2018 NBA Playoffs First Round series

6. Coming Through In The Clutch

Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Larry Bird, even players like Robert Horry.

Some of the best stars and role players of all time have made their name in part due to their success in the clutch. Giannis is no different, as in the last two seasons, he has made a number of clutch plays to bring the Bucks some major wins.

Looking back to moments such as the step-back to beat the Knicks in MSG, his steal/dunk/block sequence to seal a win over Portland last year and a key tip-in bucket to down Boston in the playoffs, he has put together some clutch moments over the years, but he has put it all together this year.

So far in the 2018-19 season in clutch time, defined as being less than 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter or overtime with neither team leading by more than 5, Giannis is 7-for-12, good for a percentage of 58.3. On the flip side of the coin, while Paul George has taken far more shots in the clutch, he still hasn’t made as many as Giannis, connecting on just 6 of 23 shots for a rate of 26.1%.

So, what have we learned today?

In my opinion, the Greek Freak is this year’s NBA MVP, and I think the basketball world will soon enough agree.