Courtesy of Jeff Hanisch of USA Today Sports It’s been a long time since Milwaukee Bucks fans have seen a basketball player on their team play better than anyone else in the NBA -- over forty-four years in fact. It last happened when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won the NBA’s most valuable player award in 1974. After being delighted over the summer by MVP-caliber baseball from Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich, Milwaukee has been treated to Giannis Antetokounmpo’s unique excellence

94-WIP - Radio.com Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid has been on a tear this season. He is currently averaging 28 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game. We haven’t seen numbers like that from a center since Shaquille O’Neal's days. Joel Embiid has been that dominant, especially as of late. In four of his last six games, Embiid has scored over 30 points, and in those four games, the Sixers have won them all . Embiid is shooting 47.4 percent from the field, 30.6 f

We discuss the fate of the Sixers with the recent injury to their star center, Joel Embiid. Has LeBron done enough to win another MVP? What does Isaiah Thomas’ future in the NBA look like? Will Coach Thibs ever learn to manage his players? Finally, we discuss the future of Jabari Parker and Hassan Whiteside with their respective franchises. We’ve got JBTeam, Rookie Watch and in Off Topic, we go to a tried and true method of smashing Buzzfeed quizzes. All that and more on this

An In-depth look on James Harden’s historical, potentially-MVP season After the all-star break, the Houston Rockets hold a 44-13 record, giving them top record in the Western Conference and the league overall (0.5 games ahead of Golden State). Offseason arrivals of Chris Paul, Luc Mbah a Moute, and PJ Tucker along with the midseason signing of wing Gerald Green have blasted the Rockets out to their best start in franchise history. However, don’t let that overshadow the histor

OTG’s Nick Fay and Kory Waldron discuss the play of Anthony Davis, all of the NBA drama, the Cavs’ issues, the return of Jabari Parker, and their low-key disappointing teams. Anthony Davis is on FIRE - Last four games - Is he a top 5 player - Should the Celtics make a move? Rockets vs Clippers Drama - CP3’s return - Blake vs D’Antoni - CP3 vs Blake - Ariza vs the Clippers - Austin Rivers - Clippers’ locker room last year. More NBA Drama - Kyle Lowry and Ben Simmons - Aaron Af

OTG’s Nick Fay, Kory Waldron, and Dennis Dow discuss the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Clippers and play a new game. The Cavs have issues - 3 straight losses and 3-7 in their last ten games. - Defense? - Roster issues - Trades? Nets Pick? - GSW vs CLE - Are the Cavs a lock for the Finals? Miami is heating up - 6 straight wins - Current 4th seed - Josh Richardson - Goran Dragic - Playoff win? OKC woes - Concerned or nah? - Playoff talk -

OTG’s Nick Fay and Kory Waldron discuss the latest Chicago Bulls rumors, Steph Curry's season, and much more on an express episode of the NBA Outlet. The Return of Zach LaVine - What can he bring? - What this means for the Bulls? Nikola Mirotic Trade - Would you give up a first? - Potential places - Inconsistent play Steph Curry is COOKING - Under the radar - MVP Steph? - A close race - Health a factor Kawhi Leonard Hurt - Should tear - Fear? OTG on Twitter The NBA Outlet on

James Harden has been the runner up in MVP voting in two of the last three years, but has always fallen just short of winning the award. In 2015, he lost the award to Stephen Curry by less than 300 total votes and in 2017, he lost the award to Russell Westbrook by a little over 100 points. His play last year was phenomenal as he led the Houston Rockets to 55 wins. Well this season he’s been playing better and the Rockets may improve on that record this year. The Rockets are 1

The NBA Outlet is BACK! OTG’s Nick Fay and Kory Waldron talk opening night! Here are the topics covered below” BOSTON CELTICS VS CLEVELAND CAVALIERS - Prayers for Gordon Hayward - What this means for the Celtics? - How this impacts the East? - Kyrie first game - The young Celtics -The Cavs new pieces - King James HOUSTON ROCKETS VS GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS - Ring night spoiled - CP3+James Harden - Houston bench - Draymond hurt? - Nick Young - Defense? BRAWL IN CHICAGO - Nikola

OTG’s Nick Fay, Kory Waldron, Jonathan Ebrahimi and Matt Chin give their NBA award predictions for the 2017-18 season. Rookie of the Year (00:56) - Can Ben Simmons surprise? - Will the vets hurt Dennis Smith's case? - Is the Lonzo hype real? Most Improved Players (11:02) - Can D'Lo take another step in Brooklyn? - Will Harris Jr. get enough shots in Denver? - Will Nurkic pick up where he left off? - A new star in Indy? Sixth Man of the Year (20:56) - Like Lou Will - Does defe

Generally speaking, going into the NBA season, only a couple of MVP candidates really stick out from the crowd. This is not the case as we enter the 2017/2018 NBA season. After a wild offseason the entire landscape of the NBA has changed. The Western Conference has become even stronger than before – so much so that the all-star selection process has been completely revamped. The championship contenders left in the Eastern Conference have undergone massive facelifts, with enti

Well, the 2016/2017 NBA regular season has finally come to an end, and what a season it was. Full of historical performances, jaw-dropping moments, epic storylines, this season will surely go down as one of the most exciting seasons in NBA history… and it isn’t even over. But there is one question that still needs an answer – Who is the 2017 Most Valuable Player? It is a shame that we actually have to choose one person out of the crowd this year because there are so many dese

As the regular season comes to a close, the MVP race continues to heat up. At this point, the field has been realistically narrowed down to 2 remaining candidates: Russell Westbrook and James Harden. One player has carried a team into the championship fold, turning a fringe playoff team into a contender after a roster overhaul and a new head coach. The other has put up a historically great stat line the likes we never thought possible in today’s NBA, while virtually willing h

There are four players currently competing for the MVP award, but which one really deserves it this year? In a year of high powered offenses, triple doubles every night and 50 3-point shot attempts a game becoming a norm; James Harden has taken this new style of offense and dominated with it, showing that he should win the MVP this year over Russell Westbrook, Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James. In a very tight race, I think Russell Westbrook ranks fourth, LeBron James third and

As is the case each season, the MVP race has slowly narrowed down to only a few players. With that being said, this year’s race is one of the closest in recent history. As we head into mid-March, only 4 players maintain any real consideration for league MVP. James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James have all survived long enough to keep their trophy hopes alive, however, there are still 15 or so games left and by no means is this set in stone. Furthermor

The MVP race is heating up and there are plenty of different takes out there. But , which player is really the MVP? Well, that depends on who you talk to. There are five players that are making a strong case to take home the trophy, but I want to leave the in depth discussion to my guys’ at OTG. For now, I wanted to showcase the MVP candidates top plays of the season so far and let you be the judge of who had the best play. James Harden Harden has done it all this season. Ran

This NBA season has been a treat for us basketball fans, as we have had some of the most memorable performances from key stars around the league. With the NBA set to return to action Thursday following a somewhat disappointing All-Star weekend (All-Star Saturday, ugh), we look into what should be an exciting finish to the rest of the season. Most of the MVP chatter has been on frontrunners Russell Westbrook and James Harden. However, the MVP trophy is awarded in May as we hav

It’s funny how history has a way of repeating itself. Twelve seasons ago, Houston Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni was plying his trade with the Phoenix Suns. At the time, the league was going through an offensive trend that relied on what is now affectionately known as ‘hero-ball’. Players like Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady and Allen Iverson were extremely ball-dominant and many of the league’s best teams used isolation basketball as their primary means to score. Altho

In recent years, statistics have become a significant part of sports culture. Basketball in particular has become one of the most analytics-driven sports in the world. More and more, advanced statistical categories have been created to give us a deeper understanding of each player’s individual contribution while they are both on and off the court. Advanced statistics such as Player Efficiency Rating (PER), Win Shares, Player Impact Estimate (PIE), and True Shooting (TS%) ar

We’ve all heard it before. It’s the old, clichéd sports adage: Offense wins games, but defense wins championships. The reason that it is so overused is because, for the most part, it has remained true for many years. Regardless of the sport or the era, very rarely have we seen teams triumph at the end of a season having played little to no defense. The same cannot be said when it comes to the MVP trophy. For whatever reason, MVP voters don’t quite see elite defenders in the s