The greatness of Nikola Jokic shined through once again, putting up a stat line that no one has ever had in the NBA.
In the Denver Nuggets overtime victory against the Phoenix Suns on Mar. 7, Jokic finished with a staggering 31 points, 21 rebounds, and 22 assists. This is the first time any player has finished with a stat line of at least 30 points, 20 rebounds, and 20 assists.
Jokic had fallen behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the MVP race. Depending on the MVP ranking had fallen considerably behind but reminded everyone how impactful of a player he is. This performance put him right back in the hunt, to become the sixth player to win at least four MVPs.
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Should Nikola Jokic be the MVP?
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the overwhelming to win his first MVP. After averaging a league best 32.8 points to go along with 5.1 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.8 steals on .526/.378/.898 shooting splits, with the Oklahoma City Thunder having the second-best record in the league, he has a strong case.
Then there's Nikola Jokic, who's averaging 28.9 points, 12.9 rebounds, 10.6 assists, 1.8 steals on .577/.439/.818 shooting splits, and have led the Nuggets to the fifth best record in the league. He's top three every major statistical category besides blocks, and sixth in 3-point field goal percentage.
Looking at advanced metrics, such as PER, win shares per 48 minutes, and box plus/minus, Jokic leads the league, but also has some of the best of all time in those categories. His PER is second all-time (only behind himself from 2022), WS/48 is seventh all-time, and box plus/minus is second all-time (behind himself).
Statistics aren't everything when it comes to the MVP, because record does matter. 52 of the 59 MVP winners led their team to a top 5 record. Both Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander are doing that, but the Thunder are head and shoulders above everyone else, with a record currently of 52-11, which is 11 games better than Denver. Gilgeous-Alexander takes the edge there.
The MVP stands for "Most Valuable Player" and Jokic is more valuable to Denver than Gilgeous-Alexander is to OKC. When Jokic is on the court, Denver has the highest offensive rating in NBA history, when he's off. their offense plummets to the worst in the NBA. The Nuggets have a +11.5 net rating when Jokic is on the court and a -9.2 net rating when he's off. A swing of 20.7 points per 100 possessions.
For Gilgeous-Alexander is on the court, the Thunder are tied for the best offensive rating in the league and have the third worse when he's off. OKC's net rating when he's on is +17.6 and +2.1 when he's off. That is a swing of 15.5 points per 100 possessions, but their +2.1 net rating is better than two thirds of the NBA.
An example of how great of a team the Thunder are is shown by them dominating the Portland Trail Blazers, the same night as Jokic's stat line, without playing any starters.
The NBA world has become desensitized to Nikola Jokic. He's having one of the greatest seasons of all-time but won't be recognized for it because he's already won three MVPs, and the media's hesitancy to make him the sixth player to have four MVPs.