In this episode of the Draymond Green Show, host Draymond Green asks Raptors forward Pascal Siakam who he would vote for MVP. Siakam immediately backs Joel Embiid, citing national pride as a Cameroonian and emphasizing Embiid’s dominant two‑way play and team success. The conversation then shifts to the broader issue of bias in NBA award voting. Both guests note that voters—media members, players, and coaches—often have personal or professional conflicts of interest, which can affect outcomes for MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, All‑NBA, and All‑Star selections. They discuss how these awards influence Hall‑of‑Fame considerations, player reputation, and future earnings. Siakam questions who should be allowed to vote, suggesting alternatives such as coaches, a balanced media‑coach weighting, or even computer‑based voting, while acknowledging no perfect solution exists. Draymond also highlights the growing international presence in the league, noting that the top three MVP candidates this season are all non‑American, underscoring basketball’s global expansion. The episode ends with Draymond’s usual call‑to‑action for viewers to subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channel.
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A foreign player yourself, this league has grown in tremendous ways. It's a very global game, a global league, and top 3 this year for the MVP race is international players. I think that says a lot about the game. I think that says a lot about the growth of, you know, basketball in other countries is huge. But if you had to vote, who are you voting for MVP this year?
Oh yeah. If I had to vote for MVP, I mean, like, obviously it's gotta be, it's gotta be like, you know, my Cameroonian brother. Like, it's gotta be like, you know, it's gotta be NB. Like, I think that, you know, he's doing it, you know, at all, like he's been doing it for years, but like just, you know, this year doing it at an incredible level. And he's just playing unbelievable basketball. Like the team is winning. He's doing on both ends of the floor. And I'm sure there's like a lot of other people out there that deserve it. Like, you know, like the Tatums and the Jokic and like all these people. But I think for me, like, you know, I obviously I might be biased, but at the same time, it would be awesome to see someone from where I'm from, like win an MVP. Like that would be crazy. It's crazy inspiration. Like just to know that like, man, like this is really possible. Like. And not only that, not only that I'm biased, I think he also deserves it.
Nah, for sure. I think he's deserving as well. I must say, and I now know Joel listens to this stuff because he bust my ass last week because of something I said on here. So I'm gonna throw that out there. But I must say, after he had that conversation with me at half court about why he just played the way he played, For him to not play versus Denver, especially the way he dropped Joker off in Philly. Like he really went at Joker in Philly. He got the best of that matchup that night. I was a little disappointed that he didn't play in Denver that night. I must say that.
Right, right.
But you just said something very interesting and it's a real thing what you said. I may be biased and what I want to say to that is, You probably are biased. And you are, there's no probably, you are biased. Now it's a good bias because Joel is right there. It's not like you're saying something random, like Joel should be MVP. But my point with that is the people who are making these decisions are also biased.
Right.
And that's one of the issues that I have with these awards. Because you think about these awards, these awards decide if you're gonna be in the Hall of Fame, These awards decide how you're going to be viewed and what you've put 15, 20 years of your life into ultimately in the long run. And like, you have these people voting, and I just disagree with the voting criteria. Like, I mean, like, who's voting? Like—
Right.
Like, I don't quite understand that because there are biases. Just like you just said, I'm a little biased.
Right.
You can't tell me, like, if I'm up for Defensive Player of the Year and it's me versus someone, do you think Kendrick Perkins wouldn't be biased towards me as Defensive Player, like voting for me Defensive Player, even if I'm deserving? Like, I 100% think he'd be biased. And so, like, what do you make of like who's voting for these awards and like the way it's determined? Because another thing it does is it determines how much money you make. And that's crazy to me.
For sure. Yeah, no, it's pretty crazy. And I think for me, that's why, like I said, like I've just disconnected myself totally from that just because I'm like, yo, like I really don't understand it. Like I don't get it, you know? And like you said, it's like just people voting for that. And yeah, some might have biases, you know? Like, so it's like, what do you do? Like, I'm sorry, who do we make to have these votes? Like, I don't know. Like who do we choose instead of those people to vote? Like, do we have computers voting? Voting? Like, what do we do? You know what I mean? Like, I don't know. Like, I feel like it's just so hard. And I feel like, yeah, it's going to be biased. Like, and it's hard. Like, it's like, what do you— I just don't know how to respond to it because I'm like, who do you put in that position to make those votes? Like, who would you suggest, like, to be voting for All-NBA and like all this stuff? Like, who do you think?
I think just like other things, coaches. Because like there's a way of doing that, that you can't vote for your player, right? Like you can't vote for your guy. I think they have a better sense. They watch the most film. Like they, like, I just think it has to be a better way in deciding these things. Now what you, I know the argument that they would make as coaches, well some coaches would do this so you don't make as much, like.
Right.
I don't think there's a perfect answer.
Yeah.
But I do think at some point it has to be addressed. Like, for instance, All-Star starter, maybe there's a situation of media carries this much weight, coaches carry this much weight, and then we like, you know, we equal out the two in some way. But I just think the way that it's done right now, I'm just not totally sure.
It's tough, man. It's hard. That's why, like I told you, bro, like I try to just like, man, like I can't control it. Whatever happens happens, you know.
What's up everybody? It's Draymond Green. Make sure you subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channel. YouTube channel below so you don't miss any more of this great content going forward.
