Eight months, 35 1/2 weeks, 249 days – these are the units of time that elapsed between Breanna Stewart’s official signing with the New York Liberty during the WNBA free agency period and the inevitable Game 1 , 2023 WNBA Finals contest. between the Liberty and the defending champion Las Vegas Aces.
Sunday’s series opener features the two preseason title favorites, the best and most anticipated matchup the league has to offer, and storylines galore. Of the many topics covered, one of the most fun to explore in this matchup featuring the WNBA’s top talent is which player will be the best. Better yet: which players bet on to be the best.
Let’s talk about it.
All odds courtesy of BetMGM.
AP Photo/Jessica Hill
Let’s start at the bottom of the list of realistic 2023 WNBA Finals MVP candidates.
Ever since BetMGM released the series futures, I’ve had my eyes on Courtney Vandersloot’s extremely long odds for Finals MVP of +15,000. In her 13th WNBA season, she’s not really in the mix anymore. out of the “best point guard in the league” conversation, but she’s still a solid 11-point, eight-assist player every night. Sloot’s only two years were taken away from her 2021 WNBA Finals victory with the Chicago Sky in which she averaged 11.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 12.5 assists in four games.
Will she move into 2021 Finals mode on the Aces this year? The odds and superior players around him make such an idea unlikely. Still, I can’t completely rule it out, which makes this long-time Finals MVP candidate worth at least considering spending some money.
Jérôme Miron-USA TODAY Sports
A handful of players in this matchup have the potential to walk away on any given night, but perhaps none of them make it as glamorous as the Aces’ Chelsea Gray. The swag, the handle, the pull-ups, the dimes – poetry in motion when it clicks. And for those hoping to turn a small amount of money into a lot of money, you might want to consider Gray’s +1,800 odds of repeating as Finals MVP.
David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Looking at the Aces and Liberty rosters, you’ll be hard-pressed to find anything other than household names. At the top are THE two faces of the WNBA and the league’s newest MVPs, A’ja Wilson (2022) and Breanna Stewart (2023). Sabrina Ionescu and Candace Parker (injured) could be the next two names revealed before arriving at a third group that includes players like Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Gray.
Yet it’s easy to overlook the fact that there’s another recent WNBA MVP who should play a major role in this series – that’s the league’s 2021 award winner, Jonquel Jones, whose move last offseason to the Big Apple has made headlines before. Stewie’s decision robbed them all. Jones dominated the Aces on August 15 with a 16-point, 15-rebound, and two-block performance to lead New York to a Commissioner’s Cup championship while helping each player get an additional sack. Can Jones turn around You as a winner?
Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports
I spent a lot of time in the sections above explaining why someone not named A’ja Wilson or Breanna Stewart could find their way to Finals MVP honors, and maybe ( hopefully) that my words were gentle enough to convince a few people reading this. article. But in reality, A’ja or Stewie are probably the players who add another material item to their collection of individual accolades once the dust settles – they’re the two best players in this series, and that’s a statement that doesn’t lend itself to not up for debate. Which of the two will be better in this particular series will probably determine the outcome of the finale.
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