Nikola Jokic has been unplayable for the past few weeks and the Nuggets are first in the West. Two more than solid arguments to place the Joker high enough in the MVP race. Problem: Nikola Jokic is already a double MVP in title, and the NBA tends to quickly tire of the exploits of its best players. A phenomenon that annoys Mike Malone, coach of Denver.
Mike Malone is fed up. Tired of hearing that we can refuse to his player the title of MVP on the pretext that he is the double winner in title. And very sincerely, we can understand that. The NBA is certainly a League where everything moves extremely quickly, and where the need for perpetual renewal is felt… right down to the votes for the most important awards, but when you are the best, you are the best, and what ‘we’ve been there for six months or three years. Interviewed by TJ McBride from Denver Stiffs on this subject, the Denver coach explains:
“I don’t really care what people think about Nikola & I know Nikola does not care what people think about Nikola. But if people are arguing that he should not win because he has done so twice, then that is lazy.”
-Malone on Jokic MVP case and the narrative surrounding the award.
— T.J. McBride (@TJMcBrideNBA) January 1, 2023
“I don’t really care what people think of Nikola [Jokic, ndlr], and I know Nikola doesn’t care what people think of him. But if people think he shouldn’t win [le MVP, ndlr] because he won it twice, well that’s nonsense.”
Here. Mike sends us a nice #TouchePasÀMonSerbe. For him, as for many, the argument of an absolute necessity for change makes no sense. But in fact, where are we for the Joker? Oh, not much, just 25.5 points, 10.9 rebounds and 9.5 assists per game, all at 61.6% shooting and 81% throwing. And the Nuggets in all this? 24 wins for 12 losses, a place on Western Conference throne and the second-best record in the League. Yeah, just that. This is perhaps not the cliché that we have of the athletic monster, the famous freak what a dominant player should be, but it’s a fact: Nikola Jokic may be the best player in the NBA right now. And it’s probably our friends at the FFL who still talk about it best.
The fact that Jokic is the best basketball player in the world with a Boxing Day physique is a wonderful reason to be happy
– Fed 🇫🇷 of the Lose (@FFLose) December 26, 2022
So, on the way to the historic treble? It could well be, yes. A third consecutive consecration would allow Niko to enter an extremely closed club. We are not exaggerating: alone Bill Russell (1961-63), Wilt Chamberlain (1966-68) et Larry Bird (1984-86) achieved this feat. Yeah, even Michael Jordan (who now gives his name on the trophy) never got there…
Could marketing criteria have infiltrated MVP votes? Business is business as they say, and the Joker could bear the brunt of these policies. Not sure that it affects the motivation of the Serbian pivot that much, and not sure (at all) that Denver’s future opponents in the Playoffs want a Jokic who shuts their mouths…