Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo has been named the NBA MVP for the second straight season as he scooped the 2019-20 Kia Most Valuable Player as well.
Antetokounmpo becomes the 12th player to earn the honor in consecutive seasons and also joins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James as the only players to win multiple NBA MVP awards by the age of 25.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, a native of Greece born to Nigerian parents, also becomes the first player from Europe to be selected as the NBA MVP more than once.
Watch how Giannis earned his award as the MVP of the 2019/20 season
Antetokounmpo, having previously been named the 2019-20 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year, also joins Michael Jordan (1987-88) and Hakeem Olajuwon (1993-94) as the only players to be selected as the Kia NBA Most Valuable Player and the Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year in the same season. (The NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award was first presented in the 1982-83 season.)
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Voting for the award was based on the regular-season which was played through March 11, the night the season was put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Antetokounmpo averaged 29.6 points, 13.7 rebounds, and 5.8 assists having played 57 games at that time.
Talks have begun to emerge about Antetokounmpo’s contract which runs out after the 2020-21 season as he is in line to become a free agent if he doesn’t re-sign with the Bucks.
He, however, indicated that he is focused on family in the short term — “I was in the bubble (near Orlando) for two months,” he says noting that there will be a time to discuss the situation with Bucks’ management.
He tells the NBA TV: “What I’m going to do next is I’m going to get better,”
“And when the time comes that we’re going to talk about contract and we’re going to talk about long-term future with Milwaukee that’s going to be that time. But now I want to keep getting better and focus on my family.
“… As long as everybody is on the same page and as long as everybody’s fighting for the same thing every single day, which is to be a champion, I don’t see why not be in Milwaukee for the next 15 years.”
Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic and Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard completed the top five in the balloting.
| Player (Team) | 1st Place Votes | 2nd Place Votes | 3rd Place Votes | 4th Place Votes | 5th Place Votes | Total Points |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee) | 85 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 962 |
| LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers) | 16 | 84 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 753 |
| James Harden (Houston) | 0 | 1 | 64 | 10 | 10 | 367 |
| Luka Doncic (Dallas) | 0 | 0 | 14 | 36 | 22 | 200 |
| Kawhi Leonard (LA Clippers) | 0 | 0 | 9 | 31 | 30 | 168 |
| Anthony Davis (Los Angeles Lakers) | 0 | 0 | 5 | 14 | 15 | 82 |
| Chris Paul (Oklahoma City) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 26 |
| Damian Lillard (Portland) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 23 |
| Nikola Joki? (Denver) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 18 |
| Pascal Siakam (Toronto) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 17 |
| Jimmy Butler (Miami) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
| Jayson Tatum (Boston) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
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