{"id":1875803,"date":"2026-04-10T10:28:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T07:28:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1875803"},"modified":"2026-04-10T10:28:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T07:28:28","slug":"a-solution-to-the-nbas-mvp-problem-plus-rorys-masterful-first-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1875803","title":{"rendered":"A solution to the NBA\u2019s MVP problem, plus Rory\u2019s masterful first round"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"Article_ContentContainer__jBNW3 article-content-container bodytext1\">\n<p><strong><span>The Pulse Newsletter <\/span><\/strong>\ud83d\udce3<span> | This is <em>The Athletic\u2019<\/em>s daily sports newsletter. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/newsletters\/the-pulse\/\"><span>Sign up here<\/span><\/a><span> to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr>\n<hr>\n<p><span>Good morning! Watch out for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7184105\/2026\/04\/09\/xander-schauffele-masters-tee-shot-bag\/\"><span>the shopping bag<\/span><\/a><span> today. Coming up:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span>\ud83c\udfcc\ufe0f Rory\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7184895\/2026\/04\/09\/rory-mcilroy-masters-2026-lead\/\"><span>back<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span>\ud83c\udfc6 NBA players <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7176470\/2026\/04\/09anonymous-nba-player-poll-2026-mvp-jokic-sga\/\"><span>solve<\/span><\/a><span> MVP<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">\ud83c\udfd2 A Frozen Four <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7184230\/2026\/04\/10\/denver-michigan-frozen-four-overtime-ncaa-hockey\/\">classic<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<h3><b>Tee Times, Pt. II: Rory\u2019s easy excellence<\/b><\/h3>\n<div id=\"attachment_7185782\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n<div class=\"wp-caption-image-container\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-7185782 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2026\/04\/10030041\/GettyImages-2270618871.jpg\" alt width=\"1024\" height=\"683\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"inline-credits\">\n<div class=\"inline-credits-container\">\n      <span class=\"credits-text\">Hector Vivas \/ Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>A \u201ccool\u201d thing about writing a daily sports newsletter is that each day is a new chance to be wrong. Yesterday, in our preview, we made two points: Defending champion Rory McIlroy was coming into this Masters with plenty of questions around him. We also mentioned that Matt Fitzpatrick, the talented Englishman, could be a contender.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Then they started playing golf:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>McIlroy looked incredible,<\/b><span> free of the pressure the last decade brought at Augusta National. He looked free and easy en route to a five-under 67, which ties him with Sam Burns for the lead. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7184895\/2026\/04\/09\/rory-mcilroy-masters-2026-lead\/\"><span>Everyone should be scared of Rory<\/span><\/a><span>.<br \/>\n<\/span><span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span>Fitzpatrick was \u2026 fine, finishing with a two-over 74, tied for 40th. Not out of it, but also not exactly in it at the moment. <\/span><b>He, along with other big names like Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm, will have work to do just to make the cut.<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7184612\/2026\/04\/09\/masters-2026-dechambeau-3d-club-gerry-mcilroy\/\"><span>Maybe DeChambeau\u2019s new 3D-printed iron will help<\/span><\/a><span>.<br \/>\n<\/span><span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>The biggest eyebrow-raiser? Patrick Reed, <\/b><span>the LIV defector\/PGA returnee who\u2019s two shots off the lead after a three-under 69 yesterday. Reed occupies, let\u2019s say, an interesting niche in golf. Uber-talented yet, at some point, nearly universally loathed. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7184907\/2026\/04\/09\/masters-2026-patrick-reed\/\"><span>This could be a reintroduction, though<\/span><\/a><span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>The second round starts in a bit. Per BetMGM, McIlroy (+280) is now the favorite. We\u2019ll have more this weekend and in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/newsletters\/golf-briefing\/\"><span>our special Masters newsletter<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container\">\n<div class=\"ad-wrapper article-treatment\">\n<div class=\"ad-slug-container\">\n<p class=\"ad-slug\">Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"mid1\" data-position=\"mid1\" class=\"ad place-ad\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr>\n<h3><b>Solutions? The NBA\u2019s slight MVP problem<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span>Our newest anonymous poll, this one via NBA players, released its first set of answers today, and I thought it both highlighted and rendered moot one of the biggest talking points in the league right now: the harrowed 65-game rule.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"article-pickem\">\n<p><span>As my colleague Zach Harper expertly pointed out Wednesday, the rule itself \u2014 mandating that any player eligible for a postseason award must play 65 games in a season \u2014 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7166671\/2026\/04\/08\/65-game-rule-awards-giannis-nba-the-bounce\/\"><span>looks pretty dumb right now<\/span><\/a><span>. The current players ineligible for honors: Cade Cunningham, Anthony Edwards, Luka Don\u010di\u0107 (pending appeal) and possibly Victor Wembanyama. These players have partly defined this season, and they won\u2019t be honored? At all?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>And yet, according to a majority of the NBA players polled, Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander deserves a second straight MVP award.<\/b><span> A total of 159 players voted, and 39 percent selected SGA. Nikola Joki\u0107 was second with 21.4 percent, and all of the possibly ineligible players were possible answers here, too.<br \/>\n<\/span><span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>To be clear, Gilgeous-Alexander is quite deserving.<\/b><span> His numbers are nearly identical to last year\u2019s campaign and Oklahoma City has the best record in basketball. If anything, it\u2019s boring how good he and the defending champs have been. He has scored 20-plus points in an NBA record 140 straight games now. That\u2019s absurd.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>Read the full story of his season, and the history of this anonymous poll, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7176470\/2026\/04\/09anonymous-nba-player-poll-2026-mvp-jokic-sga\/\"><span>here<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr>\n<h3><b>News to Know<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span><b>Frozen: Wisconsin, Denver win classics<br \/>\n<\/b><\/span><span>Wisconsin and Denver will play in the men\u2019s college hockey national title game after respective stunning wins in last night\u2019s Frozen Four games. In the early matchup, the Badgers shocked a heavily favored North Dakota team, 2-1, thanks to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7184226\/2026\/04\/09\/frozen-four-wisconsin-north-dakota-ncaa-score-upset\/\"><span>aggressive puck pressure<\/span><\/a><span>. The nightcap was even better, with Denver outlasting Michigan \u2014 two teams with 19 titles between them \u2014 in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7184230\/2026\/04\/10\/denver-michigan-frozen-four-overtime-ncaa-hockey\/\"><span>a double-overtime instant classic<\/span><\/a><span>. Let\u2019s hope the final lives up to those.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"top-league-content-root\"><\/div>\n<p>    {&#8220;endpoint&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/api-prd-nyt.theathletic.com\/graphql&#8221;}<\/p>\n<p><span><b>NFL defends itself amid anti-trust report<br \/>\n<\/b><\/span><span>Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Department of Justice opened an investigation into whether the NFL has employed anticompetitive tactics via its media rights deal. This all comes as the league prepares to negotiate new deals, including what\u2019s expected to be a bigger share for streamers. A league spokesperson vociferously denied the charge to <em>The Athletic<\/em> yesterday. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7183979\/2026\/04\/09\/nfl-antitrust-exemption-doj-probe-anticompetitive-tactics\/\"><span>Read the full comments (and context) here<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><b>A time beef?<br \/>\n<\/b><\/span><span>As a two-way player, Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani receives extra time in between innings to get ready to pitch. During a game Wednesday, the Blue Jays seemed to take offense to the leeway after George Springer approached the home plate umpire to chat about it. It\u2019s not the first time, either, as the Jays made similar overtures during last year\u2019s World Series. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7183693\/2026\/04\/09\/shohei-ohtani-blue-jays-umpires-time\/\"><span>Read the full backstory here<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container\">\n<div class=\"ad-wrapper article-treatment\">\n<div class=\"ad-slug-container\">\n<p class=\"ad-slug\">Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"mid2\" data-position=\"mid2\" class=\"ad place-ad\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>More news:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Lionel Messi <\/b><span>and <\/span><b>Argentina<\/b><span> have committed to play at <\/span><b>Auburn<\/b><span>. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7182870\/2026\/04\/09\/argentina-world-cup-friendlies-kyle-field-jordan-hare-stadium-texas-am-auburn\/\"><span>Yes, a real sentence<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span>Meanwhile, <\/span><b>Neymar<\/b><span> is <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7184287\/2026\/04\/09\/neymar-fc-cincinnati-mls-preliminary-talks-transfer\/\"><span>in talks<\/span><\/a><span> to join <\/span><b>FC Cincinnati<\/b><span>. \ud83d\udc40<\/span><span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span>The <\/span><b>WNBA<\/b><span> officially approved three cities for <\/span><b>expansion<\/b><span> teams: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7185161\/2026\/04\/09\/wnba-official-expansion-cleveland-detroit-philadelphia\/\"><span>Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span>Scary scene in Minneapolis yesterday: <\/span><b>Tigers center fielder Parker Meadows<\/b><span> was carted off the field after colliding with left fielder Riley Greene during Detroit\u2019s loss to the Twins. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7184687\/2026\/04\/09\/tigers-parker-meadows-hospital-outfield-collision\/\"><span>Read our full story<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span>The <\/span><b>NBA<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7184336\/2026\/04\/09\/nba-sacramento-kings-tanking-investigation-cleared\/\"><span>cleared the Kings<\/span><\/a><span> of <\/span><b>tanking<\/b><span> against the Warriors on Tuesday. OK then.<\/span><span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>76ers center Joel Embiid<\/b><span> underwent an emergency appendectomy yesterday, which <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7184286\/2026\/04\/09\/joel-embiid-philadelphia-76ers-illness\/\"><span>could actually end his season<\/span><\/a><span>. Tough. <\/span><span><br \/>\n<b><\/b><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span><b><span>With a 4-1 win last night, the <\/span>Utah Mammoth<span> are just four games away from becoming the first NHL team in the cap era to finish a season with zero shootouts. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7182153\/2026\/04\/09\/utah-mammoth-shootouts-nhl-history\/\"><span>Mind-bending, to be honest<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>\ud83d\udcf0\u00a0<a style=\"font-weight: 400\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/news\/\">Find more news here 24\/7<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h3><b>Watch Guide<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><b>\ud83d\udcfa Golf: The Masters<\/b><b><br \/>\n<\/b><b>8:30 a.m. ET on CBS, ESPN and Prime Video<br \/>\n<\/b><span>Round 2 is here, and you can start watching pretty early. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7177183\/2026\/04\/09\/masters-2026-streaming-tv-tee-times-round-1-2\/\"><span>See our full guide here<\/span><\/a><span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>\ud83d\udcfa MLB: Giants at Orioles<\/b><b><br \/>\n<\/b><b>7:15 p.m. ET on Apple TV<br \/>\n<\/b><span>These two continue to fascinate me. Baltimore is .500 in the early going, though there is plenty of reason for optimism. San Francisco remains part of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7183921\/2026\/04\/09\/sf-giants-manager-tony-vitello-critique-validity\/\"><span>the Tony Vitello experiment<\/span><\/a><span>. Good choice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>\ud83d\udcfa NBA: Timberwolves at Rockets<\/b><b><br \/>\n<\/b><b>9:30 p.m. ET on Prime Video<br \/>\n<\/b><span>I like this matchup of mid-tier Western Conference playoff teams. Minnesota is locked into the sixth seed with two games left, while Houston could be anywhere from Nos. 3 \u2013 5. Anthony Edwards is questionable to play, though.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span>Get tickets to games like these <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/stubhub.prf.hn\/l\/jXBQP09\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><i><span>here<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<hr>\n<h3>Pulse Picks<\/h3>\n<div class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n<div class=\"wp-caption-image-container\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2026\/04\/09121409\/GettyImages-955911830-1024x712.jpg?width=1440&amp;quality=70&amp;auto=webp\" alt width=\"1440\" height=\"1001\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"inline-credits\">\n<div class=\"inline-credits-container\">\n      <span class=\"credits-text\">Joe Sargent \/ Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><b>Alex Ovechkin<\/b><span> might actually retire this offseason. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7182671\/2026\/04\/10\/alex-ovechkin-retirement-sidney-crosby-nhl\/\"><b>Sidney Crosby<\/b><span> sounds endearingly sad about that<\/span><\/a><span>. Aw, you guys.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Compelling: Was <\/span><b>Angels outfielder Jo Adell\u2019s<\/b><span> three-robbery night in Anaheim the best defensive game in MLB history. Jayson Stark <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/nytimes.com\/athletic\/7184624\/2026\/04\/10\/jo-adell-greatest-defensive-game-baseball-history-angels\/\"><span>sought answers the way only he can<\/span><\/a><span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The story of <\/span><b>Red Sox rookie Tyler Samaniego\u2019s<\/b><span> frantic late call-up, and subsequent electric debut, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7183691\/2026\/04\/09\/red-sox-rookie-tyler-samaniego-dad-debut\/\"><span>made me tear up<\/span><\/a><span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Sabreena Merchant has a <\/span><b>WNBA mock draft<\/b><span> for us, where UCLA\u2019s players rose and other stars \u2014 like LSU\u2019s Flau\u2019jae Johnson and UConn\u2019s Azzi Fudd \u2014 dropped. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7182657\/2026\/04\/09\/wnba-mock-draft-ucla-flaujae-johnson-azzi-fudd\/\"><span>See the picks<\/span><\/a><span>. <\/span><span><br \/>\n<\/span><span>There is a new <\/span><b>FIFA World Cup ticket scandal<\/b><span>. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7182937\/2026\/04\/09\/fifa-world-cup-tickets-new-category-prices\/\"><span>Seriously<\/span><\/a><span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In the <\/span><b>NHL<\/b><span>, the <\/span><b>Norris Trophy race <\/b><span>is closer than ever. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7181782\/2026\/04\/09\/nhl-norris-trophy-race\/\"><span>How do we even decide who wins?<\/span><\/a><span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday<\/b><span>: \u201cThe Beast,\u201d <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/theathletic.onelink.me\/eNRy\/thebeast\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><span>free to read in <\/span><i><span>The Athletic<\/span><\/i><span>\u2019s app<\/span><\/a><span>. <\/span><span><br \/>\n<\/span><b><br \/>\nMost-read on the website yesterday<\/b><span>: The Masters Round 1 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/live-blogs\/masters-2026-live-updates-round-one-leaderboard\/SGMGQNpd6i4o\/\"><span>live blog<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\ud83d\udceb That\u2019s all for now! Say hello at <\/span><a href=\"mailto:thepulse@theathletic.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><span>thepulse@theathletic.com<\/span><\/a><span>, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/5803046\/2025\/12\/31\/the-athletic-newsletters-sign-up\/\"><span>check out our other newsletters<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Pulse Newsletter \ud83d\udce3 | This is The Athletic\u2019s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox. Good morning! Watch out for the shopping bag today. Coming up:\u00a0 \ud83c\udfcc\ufe0f Rory\u2019s back \ud83c\udfc6 NBA players solve MVP \ud83c\udfd2 A Frozen Four classic Tee Times, Pt. II: Rory\u2019s easy excellence Hector [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1875803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1875803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1875803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1875803\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1875803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1875803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1875803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}