Denver Nuggets: 3 questions entering the All-Star break
By Sean Carroll
Denver Nuggets pre-All-Star break questions: Can Nikola Jokic make a push for his second MVP?
Nikola Jokic was looking like a favorite to win the 2020-21 MVP but it was his late-season surge that all but secured it for him. After Jamal Murray’s injury, most had ruled out the Nuggets but Jokic put the team on his back and kept them in the West’s elite.
This season, the Big Honey finds himself in a similar situation. The NBA’s permanent second-best center in the league, Joel Embiid, will always be making noise, especially after his team traded for James Harden, but Jokic can still beat him out.
Charles Barkley recently said that Denver Nuggets fans and coaches can be “whiny” when talking about the lack of respect for the MVP, but with Jokic improving on his MVP year, there’s good reason for it.
Jokic is the best offensive player in the entire league, he is now up there in terms of big man defense, and is keeping an injury-riddled team alive in the Western Conference. The shots and passes he’s making while being double and triple-teamed is incredible and doesn’t always translate to the box score (although, his box scores are near orgasmic).