There is no one like Nikola Jokic. Denver Nuggets fans realized that early on, and it took the rest of the NBA a little longer to catch up. He went from being drafted during a Taco Bell commercial to winning the regular-season MVP award three times, leading the Nuggets to their first-ever title, and taking home the 2023 NBA Finals MVP award. Oh, and he's only 30.
You can argue that Jokic should win his fourth MVP. Joel Embiid took home the award in 2023 after a heated MVP media debate that minimized Jokic's impact. He let his actions do the talking when he won a championship that year.
Jokic won MVP in 2024 with 79 first-place votes, followed by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (15) and Luka Doncic (4). Jokic, SGA, and Giannis Antetokounmpo were named finalists this year, but it'll come down to either Jokic or SGA.
There have been ongoing debates throughout the year about who should win it, as well as the definition of MVP. Shai plays for the top team in the West, which cruised to a 68-14 record, while Jokic and the Nuggets finished fourth in the conference with a 50-32 record, winning their last three regular-season games after Michael Malone was fired.
The Thunder are a deep team, meaning they can survive without SGA on the floor. However, if the Nuggets hadn't had Jokic, there is a chance they would have finished outside of Play-In Tournament range.
The Athletic conducted its annual anonymous NBA player poll, and of course, asked who should win MVP. SGA received 56.1% of the votes, followed by Jokic at 37.4%. One of the players said this about why he chose SGA over Jokic (subscription required):
“I’ll give it to Shai just because last year, and the past few years, it has been Jokić. But they’re both playing at an incredible level right now. Just passing it along to the next generation, and Shai is the next generation.”
Player cites voter fatigue as why SGA should win MVP over Jokic
Not to dismiss the regular season that SGA had (he averaged a league-best 32.7 points, 6.4 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game), but it's silly to say he should win the award because Jokic won it three times already. It's not about "passing it along to the next generation" -- it's about choosing the player who had the best season in terms of being the most valuable player.
Let's not forget that Jokic became the third player in NBA history to average a triple-double during the regular season (29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 10.2 assists).
The Nuggets are a different team when Jokic is on the floor. Their net rating was 10.5 with him on the court during the regular season, and -9.3 when he was on the bench, resulting in a 19.8 swing. Their offensive rating was 125.6 with him on the floor during the regular season, and 104.1 with him off the floor. The Thunder are, of course, better when SGA plays, but it's not nearly as drastic as Jokic's numbers.
Once again, there is no clear-cut definition of what 'MVP' means in this context. SGA is the best player on the best team in the league (at least in the regular season), while Jokic is the best player in the league on a team that would be average (and that might be a little too generous) without him.
Nuggets fans obviously want to see Jokic win the award, but that doesn't mean SGA doesn't deserve it either. Media members who voted for the Thunder guard will explain their reasoning behind choosing him over Jokic, and some NBA fans will agree, while others will disagree. That doesn't matter, though, considering fans have no say in who wins. One thing that most should be able to agree on is that voter fatigue is a weak excuse.