The race for NBA MVP is on, but one name seems to be missing from the sports world's radar.
On "Undisputed," Skip Bayless explained why Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker should most certainly be in the MVP conversation alongside frontrunners Nikola Jokić, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid.
"Devin Booker should be not only in this MVP discussion but at the top of the class here. What he has done is quietly extraordinary, and there's been a quiet little groundswell led by Draymond Green who said the other day, ‘Book should be the MVP.’ I've been thinking that for two or three weeks," he said.
"Chris Paul undercuts Devin Booker. … [Paul is] the point god, but he's not the driving force of that team."
"When a player on the best team has averaged at least 25/5/5 — and [Booker] is 27/5/5 — 12 times out of 12 times, that player on the team with the best record has won the MVP," Bayless added.
"So, history would scream, ‘It has to be Devin Booker.’"
The 25-year-old Booker is averaging a career-high 26.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game through 68 games this season. He is shooting 46.6% from the field and a career-high 38.3% from 3.
A three-time All-Star, Booker averaged 27.3 PPG in the playoffs last season as the Suns reached the NBA Finals — the Sun's first Finals appearance in nearly three decades.
The Suns (64-17) head into the postseason having clinched the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference despite, while Jokić's Denver Nuggets (48-33) are the No. 6 seed — a whopping 16 games behind the Suns ahead of the weekend.
Elsewhere, Antetokounmpo's Milwaukee Bucks (51-30) are the Eastern Conference's No. 2 seed behind the Miami Heat, which has already clinched the No. 1 seed, while Embiid's Philadelphia 76ers (50-31) are the No. 4 seed.
