In year 10 of his illustrious NBA career, it seems like reigning MVP Nikola Jokic is better than ever.
To help bring his Denver Nuggets to a sharp 7-3 record, Jokic is averaging an astonishing 29.7 points, 13.7 rebounds, 11.7 assists, 1.7 steals, and one block per game while also enjoying an efficient true shooting percentage of 67.1. For perspective, he’s averaging a near-30-point triple-double and sits fourth in the league in scoring while leading the entire NBA in rebounds and assists. If that weren’t enough, the Serbian big man is fourth in the league in 3-point shooting percentage (56.4) on a moderately high volume of four attempts per game. Phew.
For all intents and purposes, after a regular-season MVP or NBA Finals MVP in each of his last four seasons, Jokic has been transcendent through 10 games, even by his already high standards. He is the clear best player in the world — there is no “arguably” — and the gap between him and the No. 2 player (whoever that might be) seems wider than ever.
But if you ask Denver head coach Michael Malone, Jokic’s play so far this season apparently hasn’t been that impressive. After Jokic dropped 37 points, 18 rebounds, and 15 assists on the Dallas Mavericks in a thrilling Sunday night win, Malone said he hoped Jokic would “probably be fifth in MVP voting.”
Wait, what? Oh, Malone was joking, and it’s easy to see why:
Malone on Jokic’s 37-18-15; “what’s Jokic fifth in MVP voting now? So he’s gotta do more for us.” pic.twitter.com/4yh9mMc8RM
— Jake Shapiro (@Shapalicious) November 11, 2024
Malone will never confirm it himself, but there’s a decent chance he saw an absurd NBA MVP ladder that put the Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis and the Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum over Jokic in this year’s early MVP conversation last week. While those two stars have also been awesome, given how utterly incredible Jokic has been for a Nuggets team that has needed him to play this well just to have a chance to win, lists like that reek of “voter fatigue,” a.k.a. people being tired of Jokic winning the league’s most prestigious individual honor in the regular season. Again.
And it’s not hard to see why Malone likely thinks that that sentiment is ridiculous, as he watches his superstar player put his team on his back every single night:
AD leads the way in the first @KIA MVP Ladder of the season 👀
Full List: https://t.co/oSFdBrXZV0 pic.twitter.com/Ib3Clh0cLc
— NBA TV (@NBATV) November 8, 2024
It’s still so early, and anything can happen in an arduous 82-game season. More importantly, Jokic is also past the point of caring about chasing regular-season MVPs. He and the Nuggets are trying to win championships first and foremost, meaning they will likely have him turn off the jets the closer we get to the postseason so he can conserve his energy for a hopeful (and long) NBA title run. Jokic’s Nuggets have bigger fish to fry these days.
But I’m gonna tell you this right now and remember it well. Davis is having a great season. So is Tatum. So is the Phoenix Suns’ Kevin Durant. They are still nowhere near the same stratosphere as Jokic right now. It’s not even close. No one impacts or controls a game more, and he somehow took another massive step forward. And if the all-time center actually does average even, say, an impeccably efficient 25-point triple-double throughout the entire season for a contending Nuggets team, he will be taking home a fourth NBA MVP award.
Full stop. Voter fatigue about Jokic be damned.
The esteemed honor would lose a ton of credibility if anyone else got it in that scenario.