Entering the 2020-21 NBA season, plenty of teams have championship aspirations, but they will all be chasing the Los Angeles Lakers. After winning their 17th championship in franchise history down in the Orlando Bubble, the Lakers not only brought in more talent to round out their roster, but they are, without doubt, the favorites to win the 2021 NBA Finals and back-to-back titles. 

It will take a lot of firepower and fantastic seasons by some of the NBA’s best talent to dethrone the Lakers and this upcoming season’s MVP may be the player that is the difference in taking down the Lakers.

However, since the 2000-01 NBA season, only six MVPs have gone on to reach the NBA Finals the same season as winning the MVP award, only Stephen Curry, LeBron James (twice), and Tim Duncan went on to win the MVP and a championship in the same season. 

This does not make the odds for this year’s MVP to take down the Lakers that good, but in a season that could see limited to no fans in the stands and with all the talent in today’s NBA, we could very well see plenty of upsets. This year is full of unknowns for the NBA and while we may think everything will go according to how it should, the league is one injury or one loss away from a total shift in power. 

Giannis Antetokounmpo is coming off back-to-back MVP seasons, joining Stephen Curry, LeBron James (twice), Tim Duncan, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Moses Malone, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, and Bill Russell as the only players in NBA history to win back-to-back MVP awards.

This upcoming season, Giannis will look to join just Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and Larry Bird as the only players to win the MVP award in three consecutive seasons. 

He is definitely one of the favorites to win the MVP award this upcoming season, but who else joins Giannis Antetokounmpo on this list and where exactly does he fall amongst the top 5 candidates to win the 2020-21 NBA MVP Award?