Michael Malone on Nikola Jokic: "Here in Denver, we know what we have. We have the best player in the world.” (via @hoopshype)
Yesterday, the Denver Nuggets had one of their toughests test in the last stretch of games left in the regular season. The rivals, Minnesota Timberwolves arrived to Mile High City with Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert as the standouts in a squad that has remained as a top contender despite having Karl-Anthony Towns injured (but coming back really soon). Nikola Jokic had a fantastic performance against the Timberwolves elite defense, dropping 41 points on them, nearly clinching his third MVP in four years after that basketball display.
Last year, it was Joel Embiid who ended up winning the coveted award, leaving the Joker second in votes. This season, the reigning MVP has recently returned to action after being sidelined two months due to a knee injury. Of course, Embiid was awesome and it was well deserved for him to achieve that milestone in his career, but that also means that Jokic has been the best, or the second best since he won his first MVP, four years ago, something that's quite an accomplishment by itself.
There's an absurd narrative around Nikola Jokic and if he deserves to win it for the third time the last couple of days. Kevin Hart for example stated that "The NBA cannot give the Joker any more MVP’s. It’s not good for the NBA." Gilbert Arenas also jumped into the conversation, saying that Jokic is the worst MVP winner in the last 40 years. The media is pushing for other candidates like Luka Doncic or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, both of them are having a monster season as well as the Joker.
To cool down this situation, after the game against Minnesota, Jokic shared his point of view:
"The whole MVP conversation, it’s kind of getting out of control. I think I’m playing good basketball. The team is playing good basketball. If I win it, great. If I don’t win it, congrats to the other guy. I think there is a lot of players playing really good basketball in the league. I think a couple of guys deserve to have that award."
Nikola has been outstanding for so long, his durability is off the charts, his basketball IQ is unmatched and he gets the recognition of his peers all the time. LeBron James has mentioned repeatedly how good he considers the Joker to be and how much he respects his game. It's almost ridiculous to try to talk down a player that's the reigning Finals MVP and a reigning NBA Champion. So far, no team in the league has come up with an answer to stop him.
The Joker has played 77 games this season, nearly averaging a triple-double of 26.6 points, 12.4 rebounds and 9 assist.
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