Which NBA player won 2022?
To answer that question, it's time for my annual "Golden Basketball" award -- which, like soccer's Ballon d'Or, considers performance across the NBA regular season and playoffs as well as international competition, distinguishing it from the league's regular-season and Finals MVP awards.
The 2022 Golden Basketball race is one of our most interesting yet. The 2021-22 regular-season MVP, Nikola Jokic, saw his short-handed Denver Nuggets eliminated in the opening round of the NBA playoffs. Giannis Antetokounmpo, the 2021 winner, grabbed the unofficial title of world's best player during the postseason despite his Milwaukee Bucks falling in the second round.
On the other hand, Stephen Curry of the champion Golden State Warriors finally won Finals MVP honors, making the injury that sidelined him the final 12 games of the regular season a distant memory, while Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics led his team to the Finals.
A fifth superstar, Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks, continued to state his case for Golden Basketball right up until the end of the calendar year, submitting a historic 60-point, 21-rebound, 10-assist triple-double in an overtime win over the New York Knicks on Tuesday.
Who claims the crown this year? Let's take a look.
Honorable mentions
Perhaps the single most dominant player in the 2022 postseason, Butler got a vote for the inaugural Larry Bird Eastern Conference Finals MVP award despite his Heat coming out on the losing end of the series after Butler missed a 3 that could have sent them to the Finals. Alas, injuries continued to limit Butler's regular-season value, as he played fewer than 60 games in the calendar year.
A finalist in 2021, Durant looks poised to return to that level in 2023 as an early contender for MVP. In between, however, Durant struggled in the opening round against the Celtics after dragging a limited Brooklyn team to the playoffs. Durant's sub-40% shooting in a four-game sweep knocks him out of the final contenders.
Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
In an ordinary year, Embiid's runner-up finish in MVP voting and high-scoring start to 2022-23 (he leads the NBA with 33.7 PPG, which would rank fourth since 1987-88) would make him a finalist. In this case, he wasn't quite as good in the regular season as the candidates with shorter playoff runs or in the playoffs as those he outplayed in the regular season.
It was an ascendant year for Morant, who was coming back from injury this time 12 months ago. By leading the Grizzlies to the No. 2 seed and a hard-fought second-round loss to the eventual champion Warriors, Morant showed his fast start to 2021-22 was no fluke. At 23, he has a chance to become a fixture on the Golden Basketball list.
The finalists
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
Résumé: All-NBA First Team, All-Defense First Team
Entering this season, Antetokounmpo finished atop ESPN's #NBArank, confirming his status as the league's reigning best player. Nobody has better combined consistent performance in both the regular season -- including a third-place finish in 2021-22 MVP voting -- and the playoffs than Antetokounmpo, though the Bucks' recent slide has put more attention on a modest efficiency decline with a career-high 38% usage rate this season.
Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
Résumé: Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP
Only injuries held Curry back in 2022. The Warriors were tied for the NBA's second-best record when he went down with a foot sprain in March, then went 6-7 the rest of the regular season. Curry returned at the start of the playoffs, first in a reserve role, and led Golden State back to a fourth championship after two years in the lottery. This time, Curry was recognized as Finals MVP, filling the only hole on his résumé as an all-time great. Despite the Warriors' struggles, Curry was a leading MVP candidate before suffering a shoulder subluxation that has sidelined him since Dec. 14.
Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks
Résumé: All-NBA First Team
After spectacular performances in first-round exits against the LA Clippers the previous two years, Doncic finally got an opportunity for an extended playoff run, leading the Mavericks to an upset of the top-seeded Phoenix Suns en route to the conference finals. Asked to do even more after the offseason loss of guard Jalen Brunson, Doncic has boosted his usage to a career-high 38% while also posting his best true shooting percentage ever.
Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
Résumé: MVP
Jokic topped himself to win a second consecutive MVP, increasing his scoring and rebounding averages to compensate for the Nuggets playing without Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. nearly the entire 2021-22 season. That lack of depth cost Denver in a five-game loss to Golden State in the opening round of the playoffs. With their return, Jokic's scoring and rebounding have dropped this season, but he's shooting a career-high 62% from the field and threatening to average a triple-double by boosting his assist average to 9.5 per game.
Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
Résumé: All-NBA First Team, Larry Bird Eastern Conference Finals MVP
As of New Year's Day 2022, Tatum was shooting 33% from 3-point range and the Celtics were a disappointing 17-19. Then everything flipped. Boston led the league in wins during calendar 2022 with nearly 10 more than any other team, including the playoffs. Tatum's standout two-way play was at the center of everything. He has taken another step forward as a scorer this season, averaging a career-high 31.1 PPG, and is currently the slight favorite for MVP at Caesars Sportsbook.
Drumroll, please...
The winner: Doncic
Certainly, no NBA player did more to elevate their historical legacy in 2022 than Curry, which makes him the year's winner from that sense. Beginning this process, I was inclined to pick him. At the risk of recency bias, I was swayed to Doncic by his relative health and value in the regular season.
Remember, Doncic started 2021-22 slowly, so his All-NBA First Team appearance -- ahead of Curry, who was fourth in the voting among guards -- reflected largely his performance in 2022. After Jan. 1, he edged out Jokic to lead the NBA in wins above replacement player by my metric. Doncic is No. 1 so far this season by a wide margin.
Curry won the first Magic Johnson Western Conference Finals MVP as his team cruised past Doncic's 4-1, but I think that result said more about their respective supporting casts than the two superstars.
Doncic averaged 32 PPG in the series even as the Warriors held him to 41.5% shooting, while Curry was one of four Golden State players to average at least 16.4 PPG in a more balanced attack.