The race for the MVP continues its little way, and the contenders send their program week following week. If Jayson Tatum and Giannis Antetokounmpo have dominated so farthe recent results in the NBA force us to ask the following question: Nikola Jokic MVP for the 3rd time in a row, is it possible?
The sentence is incredible, and yet it is very real.
Nikola Jokic is giving us a 3rd season in a row MVP size.
Tonight, the Nuggets disposed of the Grizzliesgiving Denver the new Western Conference pole position.
Knowing that a little earlier in the week, the pivot of Colorado was announced player of the week in his conference, we are forced to ask regarding the Joker file.
Let’s take pure individual statistics, to begin with:
- 25,2 points
- 10.9 rebounds
- 9 passes
- 1,5 interceptions
- 62% shooting
Nikola Jokic’s production alone has to put him in MVP conversations. We are on an almost triple-double average, with monstrous shooting percentages.
So some can tell us, yes it’s Jokic in the text, since he has been in these heights for several seasons already.
But the argument that came back recently and which prevented him from overtaking Tatum and Giannis, was that Denver was not at the top of his conference … which is now the case.
In a Western Conference more clogged than a toll on the weekend of August 15, the Nuggets are number 1 and their boss bangs his fist on the table.
5 wins in the last 6 games, Memphis the former leader knocked out, Portland and Utah recently sent to the ground, the masterclasses follow one another.
Individual arguments, collective arguments, we will have to start saying things clearly.
On this date in 1986, Larry Bird becomes just the 3rd player in NBA history to win 3 straight MVP awards.
At 10 ET, hear Larry Bird’s triple double in Game 6 of the 1986 Finals as he caps off his terrific season leading the @Celtics to the title! pic.twitter.com/f1kvbq25zC
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) May 28, 2020
In the history of the NBA, they are only 3 to have been MVP three times in a row:
- Larry Bird (1984-1985-1986)
- Wilt Chamberlain (1966-1967-1968)
- Bill Russell (1961-1962-1963)
It’s another time, and the voting system was different for the two mythical pivots of the Sixers and Celtics.
Indeed, the voters were mostly the players, electing the most dominant opponent in the entire NBA.
Larry Bird then made everyone agree in the 80s, but no one has managed to do the hat-trick since, not even Michael Jordan or LeBron James.
Hence the question that annoys, and which deserves to be asked today.
What arguments might be put forward, so that Nikola Jokic is not once once more elected MVP?
Voter fatigue comes to mind, and yet one wonders if they are watching basketball. Jokic is so dominant, complete, leading and consistent that taking his excellence for granted would be basketball blasphemy. Do not reward Niko because you have to varyit’s a bit like not eating in the best restaurant in the world because you have to use your microwave well at home.
Giannis is, today, the one who looks the Joker the most in the eye. Still a leader in many rankings, the Greek is also the boss of his conference, also regular, and also ultra-dominant. It is also this titanic shock that will have to be followed over the next few weeks, when we see the files of the two players concerned.
Finally comes the duration of the performances. That is to say ? Denver is 1st in the West, but given the gap in this conference, the Nuggets can also quite fall in the standings as they did in early December. A little nap, and when you wake up you can be off the podium. Denver’s primary mission will be precisely to keep its pole position.
Because if Nikola Jokic continues his madness, runs in triple-double average, and the Nuggets are at the top of the West? Only Giannis might be able to stop a hat-trick, with the potential best record in the entire NBA. History is on the move, and excellence is before our eyes: let’s take advantage of it while there is still time.