Warriors Superstar Kevin Durant Opens As Favorite To Be NBA Finals MVP
The Golden State Warriors can only sit and wait to see who their opponent will be in the NBA Finals. Kevin Durant and company punched their ticket to the Finals after pulling off the sweep of the San Antonio Spurs earlier this week.
Although the Cleveland Cavaliers are one win away from reaching the Finals with the Boston Celtics on the verge of elimination with everyone anticipating a rematch of the last two years, Durant, who hasn’t participated in any of these showdowns, is apparently the favorite to win NBA Finals MVP, via ESPN’s David Purdum:
Golden State’s Kevin Durant opened as the favorite to be named NBA Finals MVP on Wednesday at William Hill, the first Nevada sportsbook ever to offer odds on the Finals MVP.
Durant’s toughest competition for Finals MVP will be on his own team. Stephen Curry is behind his teammate followed by LeBron James, Draymond Green, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love, via Purdum:
Durant is listed at 7-5, followed by Warriors point guard Stephen Curry at 8-5.
Cleveland’s LeBron James, a three-time Finals MVP, is next at 2-1.
Warriors forward Draymond Green opened at 17-2, followed by Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving (10-1) and Cleveland forward Kevin Love (15-1).
Ironically enough, none of the names mentioned in the running for NBA Finals MVP made the list of three finalists for NBA MVP. James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, and Russell Westbrook are the three players in the running for the regular-season award and are all players on teams that have already been eliminated in the playoffs.
As for the NBA Finals, the Warriors, as expected, are favorites to win it all, via ESPN:
On Wednesday, the sportsbook at Station Casinos in Las Vegas opened the Warriors as -220 favorites over the Cavaliers in a potential rematch of last year’s Finals. Early action on Golden State pushed the odds up to -300.
Game 1 of the NBA Finals will take place at Oracle Arena regardless of the Warriors’ opponent on June 1. Golden State has home-court advantage and will play the first two games of the series in Oakland.
