Which NBA player won 2022?
To answer that question, it's time for my annual "Golden Basketball" award -- which, like soccer's Ballon d'Or, considers performance across the NBA regular season and playoffs as well as international competition, distinguishing it from the league's regular-season and Finals MVP awards.
The 2022 Golden Basketball race is one of our most interesting yet. The 2021-22 regular-season MVP, Nikola Jokic, saw his short-handed Denver Nuggets eliminated in the opening round of the NBA playoffs. Giannis Antetokounmpo, the 2021 winner, grabbed the unofficial title of world's best player during the postseason despite his Milwaukee Bucks falling in the second round.