Siakam Finishes 10th in MVP Voting, Giannis Wins Again
Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam finished 10th in the NBA's Most Valuable Player voting, an award clinched for the second straight year by Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The 26-year-old Raptor received two third place votes, one four place vote, and four fifth place votes, appearing on seven of 101 MVP ballots. He was followed immediately by Miami's Jimmy Butler and Boston's Jayson Tatum, who finished 11th and 12th in MVP voting, respectively.
Voting for the award was conducted based exclusively on play before the NBA's March 11 COIVD-19 shutdown.
Siakam became just the sixth Raptors player to finish in the top 10 in MVP voting, joining Vince Carter (2000), Chris Bosh (2007), Kyle Lowry (2016), DeMar DeRozan (2018), and Kawhi Leonard (2019).
The 2019-20 season was a phenomenal one for Siakam, who topped a Most Improved Player campaign in 2018-19 with his first all-star game appearance and second team All-NBA recognition this past year.
He averaged 23.1 points on 46% shooting with 7.5 rebounds per game before the pandemic.
Antetokounmpo won the award, receiving 85 first place votes. Los Angeles' LeBron James was the only other player to receive first place votes, receiving 16 and 84 second place votes. Houston's James Harden rounded out the top three, receiving one second place vote, and 64 third place votes.
MVP Voting:
1. Giannis Antetokounmpo
2. LeBron James
3. James Harden
4. Luka Doncic
5. Kawhi Leonard
6. Anthony Davis
7. Chris Paul
8. Damian Lillard
9. Nikola Jokic
10. Pascal Siakam
11. Jimmy Butler
12. Jayson Tatum
