Nikola Jokic is in contention to win his fourth MVP award, but he could be held back by a factor that prevented LeBron James after 2012.
Nikola Jokic is having yet another brilliant season. The Serbian superstar is competing to win his fourth MVP award this season.
Jokic spoke recently about winning the MVP again, claiming that he deserves the win. Even Nuggets coach Michael Malone believes Jokic is the obvious choice.
The stats show that Nikola Jokic is the true definition of an MVP, as the Nuggets are abysmal without him on the court.
But Jokic is at risk of losing out on the award for the same reason LeBron James never won the MVP after 2013.
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Legendary sports analyst Dan Patrick spoke about the MVP race. He noted that while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is likely to win the MVP, it should be Nikola Jokic.
Patrick noted that Jokic could realistically have won five MVPs over the last five seasons. However, similar to how voters got tired of voting for LeBron James, Nikola Jokic could suffer the same fate.
“He [Jokic] is not going to win the MVP. But he should… Joker could have four MVPs, he can have five MVPs if you include this year. He’s playing at that level.”
“But he won three, and all of a sudden – ‘Oh, we can’t let that happen’. LeBron James hasn’t won an MVP since 2013. He was 28 years of age.”
“I find that amazing that the best player in the game… never won an MVP. Conceivably, James could have seven MVPs.”
“Joker could conceivably have five. If you’re being fair to what you’ve seen… Shai is an incredible scorer, but he’s not better than Jokic… It’s not even close.”
Patrick believes Jokic deserves to win his MVP, much like he did in 2023, but he is unlikely to. And much like LeBron James, the NBA has collectively decided not to award him any further.
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There is no doubt that Nikola Jokic is a deserving winner of the MVP award this season. He’s averaging a triple-double with 28.9 points, 13.0 rebounds, and 10.5 assists.
On top of that, he has helped the Denver Nuggets gain a top three seed in the West, currently sitting second overall with a 42-23 record.
While Shai is the NBA’s leading scorer and on the best team in the West, what Nikola Jokic is doing, on what is objectively a far weaker team is really impressive.
The MVP race is expected to be close, but given factors such as voter fatigue and seeding in the West, Shai is expected to come out on top.
