As everyone knew, Jordan had the ability to win three MVPs in a row.
In fact, he could have made history with five straight MVPs.
But in the end, the League chose to award the MVP in the middle year to Charles Barkley.
To be fair, "The Round Mound of Rebound" had also played at an elite level that season.
But clearly, the League didn't want to give Danz another chapter in his legendary story, and that was likely part of the reason...
Now that time had moved on, could Chen Xi claim the third MVP trophy of his career?
There was still plenty of uncertainty.
In the regular season, Chen Xi finished with averages of 34.3 points, 8.1 rebounds, 9.2 assists, 2.1 steals, and 1.5 blocks.
Compared to his absurd averages of 37.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 9.4 assists, 2.2 steals, and 1.1 blocks last season, these numbers looked a little less impressive. But there was no doubt that Chen, who had once again defended his scoring title, remained the frontrunner for MVP.
The key issue was that the second-place player in the MVP rankings, Nikola Jokic, was also putting up stellar averages of 29.2 points, 13.6 rebounds, 9.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.9 blocks this season.
Meanwhile, the Nuggets ranked second in the Western Conference, just ahead of the Thunder.
Statistically, Jokic wasn't "that far behind."
And in terms of team record, the Nuggets had the edge.
That gave the League an excuse—a reason to deny Chen Xi his third consecutive MVP.
"Jokic deserves MVP too!"
On top of that, the so-called "voter fatigue" would make it even harder for Chen Xi to claim the honor.
Even so, most media outlets still predicted that Chen Xi held a huge advantage.
After all, his individual ability and influence were both