Los Angeles—The Milwaukee Bucks were tipped as favourites to finish this season as NBA champions according to basketball’s annual survey of the league’s 30 general managers released on Tuesday.
The survey released on NBA.com revealed that the Bucks were seen as frontrunners for the 2023 championship with 43% of the votes.
The defending champion Golden State Warriors received 25% of the votes while the Los Angeles Clippers had 21%.
The Boston Celtics, runners-up to Golden State in last season’s finals, were the other team named with 11% of votes.
The Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic meanwhile was tipped as the clear favourite for the NBA Most Valuable Player award with 48%.
Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo polled second with 34% while the Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid attracted 14%.
The Warriors’ Stephen Curry, NBA Finals MVP in 2022, attracted just 1% of votes.
Meanwhile, Antetokounmpo received 55% of votes as the player most GMs would pick to build a team around, with Doncic just behind at 45%.
The survey of general managers has been held every year for the past 21 years.
Participants are not allowed to cast votes for their own team or personnel.
Meanwhile, the White House on Tuesday described an upcoming appeals hearing for jailed US basketball star Brittney Griner in Russia as a “sham.”
Griner, who was sentenced to nine years prison in August for possessing vape cartridges with a small quantity of cannibis oil, is due to go back to court on October 25.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said “we are aware of Russia’s announcement that Brittney Griner will be forced to undergo another sham judicial proceeding. She should be released immediately.”
In August, Moscow said it was ready to discuss a prisoner swap for Griner, sparking hopes of a rapid resolution. However, talks have apparently since dried up with the White House saying that it has not received an answer to its “serious” proposal.
When she was arrested, the two-time Olympic basketball gold medallist and Women’s NBA champion had been in Russia to play for the professional Yekaterinburg team, during her off-season from the Phoenix Mercury.
She pleaded guilty to the charges but said she did not intend to break the law or use the banned substance in Russia.
Griner had testified that she had permission from a US doctor to use medicinal cannabis to relieve pain from her many injuries, and had never failed a drug test.
The use of medical marijuana is not allowed in Russia. AFP