Lowery’s MVP “front-runner”

He's been a sensation since arriving in Australia and now one NBL champion believes Illawarra's JaVale McGee should be the "front-runner" for MVP honours.

During Monday's episode of NBL Overtime, commentator and former NBL Champion Damon Lowery threw his support behind McGee, who is averaging 22.7 points, 10.7 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per contest.

"He [JaVale] is a massive chance [of winning MVP], he should be one of the front-runners," Lowery said.

"I know Bryce [Cotton] is Bryce but JaVale is the NBL's third leading scorer, first in rebounds, tied with Zylan Cheatham, and first in blocks.

"The only reason why JaVale isn't the front-runner is because the Hawks are down the bottom of the ladder, which is an unfortunate major factor.

"If they [Illawarra] make the playoffs, he's the MVP, no issue at all."

Lowery's two NBL Overtime colleagues, Felix van Hofe and Pete Hooley, pushed back, throwing their support behind five-time MVP Cotton, who leads the league in scoring (29.4), which is more than five points higher than second-placed Casey Prather (Brisbane).

"He [JaVale] can't be leading the [MVP race] right now, because you sat here last year and said that Bryce needs to finish in the top four to be a chance of winning the award, because winning matters," Hooley said.

"The Hawks haven't played as many games yet to be fair so they could be a little higher. And I think it'll end up being a two-man race if they continue to win games on that, but as of right now, it's Bryce."

Illawarra next play New Zealand at home on Friday night, while Adelaide next hits the court against the Hawks on Sunday at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, with both matches live on ESPN.