Nikola Jokic was largely counted out of the MVP race by most accounts, and some, I'm looking at you, Tim MacMahon, had Joker ranked as low as fourth place last week. But that was before Jokic hit the "Sombor Shuffle" over the outstretched arms of the possible Defensive Player of the Year, Victor Wembanyama. And that was before the Nuggets had an outside shot of clawing back from the sixth to the third seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
Jokic's numbers have been crazy good, and Michael Pina at The Ringer thinks Jokic's season has been stellar. And he's got Jokic winning the MVP award with only four games left to play. And it's enough to make you ask, are there more? Did people with MVP votes get swayed?
It's possible. Jokic just dominated the supposed "most intimidating defender in the world" and nemesis in the MVP race to the tune of 40 points, 8 rebounds, 13 assists, and most importantly, outside of the win, zero turnovers.
The one big problem besides the Nuggets' record that voters had with Jokic's game was the turnovers. But that zero brings him to 3.8 turnovers per game, the same he had in 2021-22 when he won MVP.
Jokic is leading the NBA in rebounds and assists
Nobody in NBA history has led the NBA in rebounds and assists in the same season. Jokic is about to do that. Two of the NBA's big three offensive categories. If we're going to talk about what's most valuable to your team, it's got to be Jokic. He's finding all the open guys, and the Nuggets are knocking down threes at a 39.6% rate.
Joker is averaging a triple-double for the second season in a row, and he currently sits at 27.9 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 10.9 assists. And he's leading many advanced metrics. For the sixth season in a row, Jokic leads the league in PER, player efficiency rating, box plus minus, and offensive win shares.
Jokic's team record case is growing
The Nuggets were just in sixth place in the West with seemingly no shot to get back to the third seed, but with four games to go, the unlikely is now looking possible. The Nuggets have eight wins in a row, sit at 50-28, and they could leapfrog the Lakers in the standings to third with a win and a Lakers loss.
And if the Nuggets close the season out with 12 straight wins, get the three seed, then what's the case against Jokic? Voter fatigue?
Sure, the Nuggets aren't the best team in the NBA, but Jokic is certainly playing like the best player lately. The question is whether or not his historic year is going to be enough to get him over that bump.