JJ Redick Completely Buried The Jokic Haters In His Latest MVP Rant

Lauren Leigh Bacho. Getty Images.

As you can imagine, the closer and closer we get to the end of the season, the more toxic the MVP discourse has gotten. Whether you think it's Jokic, Embiid, Giannis, Tatum, Luka, or whoever, I think we can all agree the current discussions around the award are a disaster. Opposing fanbases refuse to admit that another candidate might actually be good at basketball, half of the cases being presented are mostly built on breaking down others to propel your favorite candidate, it's all gross. 

What makes it a great race is the top 3 guys all have a tremendous case for the award. I don't anyone would bat an eye if Jokic, Embiid, or Giannis ended up winning it. They've been that good and all have the sort of team success people say is important. Personally, I don't hold it against Giannis that the Bucks are on this massive streak even without him playing, although I'm sure some opposing fanbases might. 

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I also think it's very weird how for some fanbases, a singular play or production in one game suddenly confirms and locks up a season long award. What about what came before that moment or after that moment? That doesn't matter?

For whatever reason, when it comes to one candidate, opposing fanbases can't seem to help themselves from talking about postseason success for a regular season award. It makes no sense, but that just shows you how broken the discourse is. 

When it comes to the media, by now we know the game. It's about engagement. It's about being mad online and going viral. That's how you get stuff like this

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Again…we're talking about AN ALL STAR DRAFT WHEN DISCUSSING THE MVP. 

Does anyone else not think this is insane?

It's kind of weird how hard people try and invalidate what Nikola Jokic does on the basketball court. He's not only a unicorn, but he's arguably the most humble superstar on the planet. When he says he doesn't give a shit about any of this, he means it. It's not an act. One would think that combination of dominance paired with team success would be appreciated. Instead, people just can't accept what is happening on the floor. It's a little bizarre. 

Which is why I found JJ Redick's rant on this topic to be very interesting. While I don't love JJ repeatedly throwing shade at the Celtics legends of my youth in Bob Cousy and Larry Bird, it is refreshing how he pushes back on all these talking heads by simply talking about the actual basketball. God forbid there are some informed opinions about this topic! 

Go ahead watch

As a reminder, this rant is coming off the following Jokic performance

It does feel like most of the anti-Jokic narratives come from people who you can almost bet are not actually watching the Nuggets. You hear a lot of the same old narratives that aren't even true anymore as a way to ignore what is actually happening. Again, this is bizarre behavior. It's OK to talk about how things are in 2023 when discussing the 2023 MVP. Weird, I know.

Rants like this are why I think it's a good thing that more players are getting into the media. As long as they aren't trying to be the new Skip Bayless, I think there's legit value in hearing about these topics from the people that actually lived it. JJ Redick has played/watched/knows more about NBA basketball than any of us idiots, so it's cool to see him use his platform the right way. He's not trying to go viral or create attention to his show. He's just telling it like it actually is. You may disagree with what he says because maybe you want your favorite player to win the MVP, and that's fine. 

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But I would ask what about that rant is wrong?

Again, if you're a Nuggets or Bucks or Sixers or Celtics or Mavs fan and you think your guy should win it, awesomel! That's what being a fan is all about! It just seems like people are trying to twist themselves into a pretzel in an effort to try and deny a level of dominance by a position that we basically have never seen before on a 1st place team who also happens to be averaging a triple double. 

That doesn't mean other candidates can't have MVP moments the rest of the way. That's why they are MVP candidates and why the stretch run should be fun as hell to watch for everyone involved.

Let's just try and use our brains instead of our hearts when talking about this award, regardless of who you think should win. It won't hurt, I promise!