On Thursday, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps put out the final MVP Straw Poll of the season. For those unfamiliar, ESPN polls all media voters to get a feel for how the award race will shake out a few weeks before official voting. This is a historically accurate poll, and is a good indication on what the consensus is around the league.
This year’s MVP race is shaping up the be the closest in over three decades. The last time things were this close? The 1989-90 campaign, which came down to Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, and Michael Jordan.