2022-23 NBA Preseason Media Poll: Who Will Win The 2023 NBA Finals?
A new NBA season is upon us and with it comes speculation about what will happen over the next few months.
Who will win this season's awards? Which teams will finish with the best and worst records? Who has the best chance to make the All-Star Game for the first time in their career?
Fastbreak on FanNation polled 21 different NBA media members, some who cover the league as a whole and some who cover an individual team, asking them these specific questions and gathering their results.
Below are the results for who NBA media members believe will end up winning the 2023 NBA Finals:
Media Members Pick To Win The 2023 NBA Finals:
Milwaukee Bucks - 7 Total Votes
The title race entering the 2022-23 NBA season is wide open and while the Golden State Warriors are certainly the team to beat entering the new year after winning their fourth championship in the last eight seasons, another team took the top spot in our preseason media poll.
There may not be a better player in the world right now than Giannis Antetokounmpo, which is why the Milwaukee Bucks are the favorite to win the 2023 NBA Finals after receiving seven votes above.
At 27-years-old, Giannis is a six-time All-Star, a six-time All-NBA performer, a 5-time All-Defensive forward, the recipient of the 2016-17 Most Improved Player award, the recipient of the 2020-21 Defensive Player of the Year award, a two-time league MVP, a champion in 2021 with the Bucks and the 2021 Finals MVP.
That right there would get a player into the Hall-of-Fame and what is scary to think about is that Antetokounmpo is just getting started in his career. The 2022-23 season has a chance to be his best yet and with both Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton by his side, the Bucks certainty have a great chance to win their second title in the last three seasons.
Going back to the defending champions, the Golden State Warriors finished second in the voting with five votes and they could certainly meet Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks in the NBA Finals. Stephen Curry is playing some of the best basketball of his career right now and while the Warriors have had to deal with drama stemming from an altercation at practice with Draymond Green and Jordan Poole, this team still has a terrific blend of talent and experience.
Winning the Western Conference will not be easy though for the Golden State Warriors, as the Los Angeles Clippers are going to be stronger than ever with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George back on the floor. Already being a deep team with a ton of experience, the Clippers added former All-Star John Wall this offseason and they will once again be an elite-level defensive team, which is why they received four votes to win their first championship in team history.
As for other teams receiving votes, the Phoenix Suns and Brooklyn Nets each received two votes and the Denver Nuggets received a single vote to win the 2023 NBA Finals. The Suns and Nets each have internal things to figure out if they are to be true championship contenders, yet on paper, they are still two of the better teams in this league.
The 2022-23 NBA season is going to be full of nail-biting games and high-level play, which is why the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy truly is up-for-grabs entering the season.
Complete voting results from 2022-23 NBA Preseason Media Poll:
- 2022-23 NBA Preseason Most Valuable Player
- 2022-23 NBA Preseason Rookie of the Year
- 2022-23 NBA Preseason Most Improved Player
- 2022-23 NBA Preseason Sixth-Man of the Year
- 2022-23 NBA Preseason Coach of the Year
- 2022-23 NBA Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
- Who Will Finish With The Worst Regular Season Record?
- Who Will Finish With The Best Regular Season Record?
- Which Team Will Win The Eastern Conference?
- Which Team Will Win The Western Conference?
- Which Team Will Win The 2023 NBA Finals?
- Who Is Most Likely To Be A First-Time All-Star During The 2022-23 NBA Season?
