We’ve seen a bit more competition taking place in the NBA All-Star Game over the last few seasons—the bar was admittedly quite low, but still. That doesn’t make it any easier choosing which players will take home MVP honors this Sunday on NBA betting sites when the league’s best tip off in Utah. The league has made it even more difficult to pinpoint a winner due to the team’s being selected just minutes before the game actually tips off.

Still, there is some historical precedent here when looking at which players will take home the crown. It’s not exactly Earth-shattering research, but players who are destined for greatness and who play on the winning team are your best NBA picks for the event. Let’s dive into that a little bit more before giving you our favorite best bets for NBA All-Star Game MVP.

Hall of Fame candidacy

The NBA All-Star Game has been played since 1951, and just four MVPs of the game have not been elected to the Hall of Fame or are on a sure-fire first ballot Hall-of-Fame trajectory. Our advice is to not get cute with this selection. 

You’re highly unlikely to find the next Adrian Smith (1966), Edward Smith (1978), Tom Chambers (1987), or Glen Rice (1997). In the 2023 edition of the game, that means passing on the likes of Jrue Holiday, DeMar DeRozan, Julius Randle, and Domantas Sabonis. They’re all excellent players, but none are in that elite tier like the last five winners (Steph, Giannis, Kawhi, KD, and LeBron).

Find an elite scorer on the winning team

The latter part of that is difficult because we don’t yet know what the teams look like. But the point remains (no pun intended) that you want to find an elite scorer: Of the last 23 NBA All-Star Game MVPs, all were on the winning team and 21 were the leading scorers on that team. Forget the boards, dimes, or (if it exists) defense when choosing your All-Star Game MVP. Find scorers.

That means we’re also going to exclude guys like Jaren Jackson (league leader in blocks), Tyrese Haliburton (league leader in assists), and Sabonis (18.8 points per game).

If you’re wondering, the league leaders in points per game this year are Luka Doncic, Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

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2023 NBA All-Star Game MVP Odds

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2023 NBA All Star Game MVP Best Bet

Joel Embiid: +900

Joel Embiid has finished second in the NBA MVP voting the last two seasons to Nikola Jokic—and it could very well happen a third straight season. But maybe he’ll take out that frustration on Sunday in Salt Lake City. Remember, Embiid scored 36 points on 14 of 20 shooting in last year’s game. 

That led Team Durant, which lost a 163-160 showcase to Team LeBron. Embiid likely would have taken home the honors last season. Without knowing where he’ll be drafted, we like him to finally get over the hump and win his first MVP (regular season or All-Star Game) right here.

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2023 NBA All Star Game MVP Long Shot 

Luka Doncic: +900

Points? Winning? Flash? Hall of Fame trajectory? Luka Doncic checks each one of those boxes. The league’s most talented scorer has tallied 40+ points on 11 occasions, including three 50-point games and a 60-burger back in December. He has been incredibly quiet in three All-Star appearances, tallying 8 points in each on 6, 7, and 6 shot attempts. 

Maybe this isn’t his jam—or maybe we’re getting great NBA odds because of past performances. Doncic has (somehow) taken his game to another level, and the soon-to-be scoring champ could very well put on a show.

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2023 NBA All Star Game MVP Shot in the Dark 

Lauri Markkanen: +2900

Hometown heroes always have a shot at MVP—14 players have won the award playing in their home arena. So let’s go wild with Lauri Markkanen, the breakout star of 2023 who is actually going to start the game because of multiple injuries to superstars on the Western Conference side. 

Markkanen isn’t the purest scorer, and he’s a big that relies on an outside shot (not exactly NBA All-Star Game MVP credentials), but he can get hot from deep and fill it up in a hurry—Markkanen has 10 games with 5+ triples, including a 9-triple effort back in December. It’s unlikely that Markkanen earns MVP in his first All-Star Game, but the odds are worth sprinkling a few bucks on just in case the hometown kid gets hot.

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