Nikola Jokić is putting up record numbers. So why is he unlikely to be NBA MVP?

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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Thunder inflicted a heavy defeat on the Nuggets on Sunday. Photograph: Joshua Gateley/Getty Images

On Sunday afternoon, two of the best teams in the NBA’s Western Conference faced off on national television. When it was over, the Oklahoma City Thunder had routed the Denver Nuggets 127-103, pulling away in the fourth quarter thanks to a barrage from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 40 points on the day. But because it was the NBA, the game was less about the teams and more about the stars at the center of the action – who just so happen to be the league’s top two MVP candidates.

Denver’s Nikola Jokić has been named NBA MVP three times in the past four years. That’s rarefied air. Only three men – Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Larry Bird – have won the award three times in a row. And only a small number of guys, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and LeBron James, have won it three out of four years. The year Jokić didn’t win it during his streak, he lost a close vote to Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid in an especially heated contest that included accusations of racism.

But more than racially charged conversations, questions of history and voter fatigue are central when it comes to NBA accolades. Not only do voters take into account the current season but they also consider the bigger picture of league history. And that is exactly what they will be doing again this year when selecting between the league’s top two candidates, Jokić and Gilgeous-Alexander. These things don’t take place in a vacuum.

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When Embiid won the MVP Award for the 2022-23 season, some voters, whether they would admit it or not, didn’t want to make Jokić the fourth player in NBA history to earn three MVP Awards in a row. He was good, but as good as Bird, Wilt and Russell? Did the voters want to say that with their vote, too? There was even speculation that Jokić played a little below his standard down the stretch that season so as not to invite comparison to those three hallowed players. Never mind that…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/nikola-joki-putting-record-numbers-115521979.html

Author : The Guardian

Publish date : 2025-03-10 11:55:00

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