Early on in this season, Nikola Jokic was putting up stupendous stat lines on a nightly basis and seemingly rewriting the NBA record books along the way. After winning three of the past four MVP awards, we knew the bar for Jokic to win again would be high, but through the first couple of months, he was living up to that elevated bar.
Jokic held a steady lead on the Kia NBA MVP ladder, but there was concern that his team’s success, or lack thereof, could be a stain on Jokic’s candidacy, and ultimately derail his campaign. This came to fruition as the Nuggets struggled to string wings together while the Thunder shot to the top of the Western Conference standings.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander overtook Jokic on the MVP ladder and became the favorite. This was obviously in large part due to the overall brilliance of SGA, but the deciding factor seemed to be the team success of the Thunder, who lead the West by 7 games with a 35-7 record.
There seems to be a general acknowledgment that Jokic is better individually, but SGA’s team has been better by a significant enough margin to warrant his lead in the MVP race. But recently, that margin has dwindled a bit. The Nuggets have won 10 of 13 games, improving their record to 26-16 and climbing to within two games of the 2 seed in the conference.
Despite Nuggets’ rise, Jokic still 2nd in MVP ladder
Last week, SGA surpassed Jokic in Shaun Powell’s NBA.com Kia MVP ladder for the first time this season. It took a week with two 40-point games for Shai and two missed games due to illness for Jokic.
Jokic bounced back with a big week for the Nuggets, but it wasn’t enough. In the latest ladder, SGA still leads the way with Jokic right behind him in second. Powell even states that if the Nuggets’ team success continues, that will only strengthen Jokic’s case.
SGA is currently leading the league in scoring with 31.6 points per game, but Jokic is top 5 in scoring (30.6 ppg), rebounding (13.2 rpg), and assists (9.9 apg), steals (1.8 spg), and 3-point % (47.1%). He’s doing it all and now it’s starting to add up in the win/loss column as well.
We knew that Jokic was facing an uphill battle this season to win a fourth MVP award, but he’s climbing that hill again and again. SGA has been amazing, but Jokic has been the best player in the NBA this season. If the Nuggets keep stacking up the wins, it’s only a matter of time until the Joker regains his crown.