Happy Friday Beyond The Press family! Hopefully the USMNT can pull off a big World Cup win this Saturday against the Netherlands. In today's BTP we dive into Devin Booker’s big step into the MVP race, an update on the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes, and Kendrick Perkins' latest snub on the MVP list. 👀

Stay safe and enjoy the weekend!

MVP RACE

Devin Booker Jumps Into the MVP Race with a 50-Piece

Don’t look now, but Devin Booker may have finally broken the Kardashian Curse… It’s still early in the season, but Devin Booker has been playing exceptionally good basketball lately. Not only did he hang 44 points on the Sacramento Kings Monday night, but he just decimated the Chicago Bulls by dropping 51 points in just three quarters of work.

Booker was recently ranked seventh on the Kia MVP Ladder, but after scoring a combined 95 points in his last two games, his odds for the prestigious award are surely going to improve. Even though the NBA is deeper than it's ever been, and the stars have shined brightly this season, it still feels like Booker is being somewhat taken for granted.

Last season he was on the All-NBA First Team, and this year he’s actually playing better, averaging career highs in points and rebounds with 27.9 and 5.4, respectively. Booker has the Suns atop the West, despite Paul missing over half of their games, and if he continues this blistering pace, he definitely won’t be going under the radar for much longer.

NBA TOP PROSPECTS

The Victor Wembanyama Sweepstakes is Starting to Take Shape

The franchise-changing potential of Victor Wembanyama is so massive that the NBA braced itself for an unprecedented era of tanking, the likes of which we’ve never seen before. While there’s still time for that vision to come true, things didn’t exactly start according to plan. Here’s where we’re at right now:

Two of the biggest tanking candidates, the Utah Jazz, and the San Antonio Spurs, puzzlingly started off incredibly hot. The Spurs opened their year on an impressive 5-2 streak, while the Jazz went a jaw-dropping 10-3 and were among the best offenses in the entire league. Fast forward to the quarter-mark of the season, and things are much closer to what we all envisioned. The Spurs are 14th in the West with a 6-16 record, while the Jazz have fallen to 7th place after losing 8 of their last 11 games.

But even those teams aren’t the biggest “frontrunners,” as that title belongs to the two worst teams, the Houston Rockets, and the Detroit Pistons. The Rockets aren’t much of a surprise, as they’re still fully in talent acquisition mode, but the Pistons seemed interested in competing, hence acquiring and extending Bojan Bogdanovic. It may not be what they wanted, but if they pair Wemby up with Cade Cunningham, no one in Detroit will be mad.

MVP RACE

Kendrick Perkins Snubs Luka on MVP List

Kendrick Perkins sent shockwaves through Twitter when he shared his top 5 MVP candidates and left the current frontrunner Luka Doncic off the list completely. Doncic was the preseason MVP favorite and has only solidified his case, averaging an astounding 33.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 8.6 assists this season, while shooting 50.5% from the field. 

Perkins didn’t deny that Luka is playing well but took issue with his team’s record, saying: “Luka has been doing his thing individually, but last time I checked your team has to have success and be up in the top tier as well.” Perkins isn’t totally off base, as historically, the award has gone to players whose teams are at the top of the league, with the notable exceptions being Russell Westbrook’s Triple Double season in 2016-17 and when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won the award in 1975-76 but missed the playoffs.

Perkins listed his MVP order as Jason Tatum, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Devin Booker, Ja Morant, and Tyrese Haliburton. The only questionable inclusion is Haliburton, who’s been sensational in just his third year, averaging 19.3 points, 11.2 assists, and 4.6 rebounds, but isn’t yet in the same category as these other names.

THE RUMOR MILL

Warriors' Draymond Green Fined $25K for Obscene Language Toward Fan

Two Stars Shined Sitting Court Side This Week At Wizards Games\

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

December 2, 2008: Manchester United's Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo wins his first Ballon d'Or award as the best football player in the world 

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