The straw poll was originally conducted in a roughly 24-hour period leading into the NBA Cup final. But after Antetokounmpo’s dominant performance with 26 points, 19 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks while Gilgeous-Alexander had 21 points but shot 8-for-24 and had more turnovers (3) than assists (2), ESPN reached out again to all 100 voters. As it turned out, 29 voters chose to alter their ballot, which resulted in Antetokounmpo more than doubling his first-place vote total and significantly narrowing the gap between him and Gilgeous-Alexander in second. Antetokounmpo’s jump created a massive lead over Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum in fourth and Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic in fifth. -via ESPN / December 20, 2024
