The early part of the 2022-23 NBA season has been a welcomed fresh start for a number of surprise players looking to add some hardware to their résumés.
While there is still plenty of season left, a handful of players have hopped into the driver's seats for the NBA's biggest accolades so far.
After a down season riddled by injuries in 2021-22, Luka Doncic has jolted to an early lead in this year's MVP race with career-best and league-leading offensive stats, and is doing it all with seemingly less help from the rest of his Dallas Mavericks team than in previous years.