To The Surprise Of No One, Nikola Jokic Won His 3rd MVP In A Landslide
Well this certainly shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. While there was a late Luka/SGA push towards the end of the season, this was pretty much Jokic’s award the second Embiid went out. Given how he was playing it looked like we were in store for another extremely toxic Jokic vs Embiid debate, but once he was removed from the equation this was about as no brainer of a choice as it gets. That doesn’t take anything away from the incredible seasons that Luka or SGA had, it’s just a reminder of how special of a player we’re dealing with when it comes to Jokic
That’s some serious company, and given his title, 6x All Star and 6x All NBA nods already, you could make the case that Jokic is entering top 10 all time territory if he’s not there already. The scary part is we’re just in the early stages of Jokic’s prime, and I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume that there’s probably at least one more MVP coming Jokic’s way. Would it shock anyone if by the end of his career he has 4 or 5? His game seems like something that will be pretty sustainable over time as he ages, and given his extreme impact and how integral he is to how the Nuggets play I feel like he’s going to be firmly in this race for years to come.
It’s also to remember that this is a regular season award. Things may not look great for the Nuggets at the moment, but that doesn’t mean shit for stuff like this. His regular season was dominant, and with that comes regular season awards. Now that we don’t have to do the voter fatigue bullshit or the “we can’t give Jokic another MVP because he doesn’t have a title” bullshit, we can finally get back to simply telling the truth and rewarding guys for shit they clearly deserve.
There is the whole MVP/winning a title in the same season curse to worry about as a Nuggets fan, but for now just enjoy the moment. It’s probably going to be a long time before we see someone win 3 MVPs in 4 years, so cherish it.