Nikola Jokic Suggests That The MVP Conversation Is Getting Out Of Control And He Couldn't Be More Right

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In what was a pretty massive matchup between to two top seeds in the West last night, it should surprise nobody that even facing the likely DPOY in Rudy Gobert, Nikola Jokic destroyed everyone and everything in his path on his way to another historic performance

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Ho hum, just another day at the office for a player who seems to have these sorts of nights every time he steps on the floor. One might even call it an MVP caliber performance, and a night that to many may have locked up Jokic's 3rd MVP in 4 seasons.

It's certainly been documented how Jokic feels about the MVP, how he never really gives a shit and only cares about winning, all that stuff. Given how toxic the MVP debate has been involving him these last few years, you can understand where he's coming from. When asked about this race now that he's perhaps on the brink of winning yet another MVP, I thought his answer could not have been more spot on.

Now we aren't quite at Embiid vs Jokic levels like we saw last season, but Jokic is certainly right here. The MVP conversation is absolutely getting out of control. Just look at what ESPN is having on their networks

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OK sure, why should anyone give a shit what Kevin Hart and Cedric The Entertainer have to say about basketball? Fair. But also, this is the product that the NBA and ESPN have decided to put out to the masses, and it does a good job of illustrating Jokic's point. Him winning another MVP would be bad for the NBA? Why exactly? What could possibly be bad about it for the NBA?

Even if you just want to chalk this up to being one celebrity's take and not that big a deal, it does pose the larger question.

Why are people STILL so weird about Jokic and his dominance?

It's talked about like he somehow doesn't actually have a case to win these MVPs yet he somehow keeps being rewarded. One would think that after last season and how that whole debate went down only for Jokic to have one of if not the greatest postseason runs in NBA history to establish himself as the best player in the world, that this type of shit would finally stop. Then, to back that up with an even better season than his MVP years on a team that's now #1 in the conference, I am even more confused how there could still be this type of narrative that follows Jokic when it comes to the MVP.

Now this isn't to say there aren't other strong cases. What Luka Doncic has done this season has been incredible, and absolutely should have him no lower than 2 in this race. His season has been historic as well for a team that should win 50 games

If Mavs fans or anyone else believes Luka should win his first MVP, that's not a crazy take. The same is true for SGA and what he's done for the Thunder this season. Absolutely a top 3 MVP caliber type season, even if he won't win it.

Yet for some reason, people only seem to be weird about Jokic winning the MVP. Why that is still the case makes no sense. I feel like he has the body of work that more than shows he's a worthy candidate/winner, he only cares about his horses and winning, there's zero drama surrounding him, he's the defending Finals MVP, he plays a beautiful style of basketball, and it doesn't seem to matter what any team in the league does, nobody can stop him. 

One would think this is the exact type of MVP that people should praise, yet year after year of Jokic dominating the league it's the same old narrative. Everyone tries as hard as they can to invalidate what we're seeing and what he's doing, and my question is why? 

I get opposing fanbases doing it if their guy is in the conversation. But everyone else? Grow up and stop weirdly hating on perhaps one of the best players we'll ever see play in the NBA. Maybe, just maybe, it makes more sense to appreciate what the hell we're seeing? As someone who has never liked the idea of "voter fatigue" and think if that's why guys like LeBron or Giannis don't have as many MVPs as they should then that's bullshit. It shouldn't matter how many you've won in the past, if you're the best player that season then you're the best player. Voter fatigue or narrative voting is partially why we're in this position in the first place. Why does it seem so hard for people to just

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Instead, it seems like people are more focused on continuing to be extremely weird when it comes to Jokic winning MVPs. Guess what? Given how dominant he is and the fact that he's right in the middle of his NBA prime, it's going to be VERY hard for someone to knock him off the top spot. Even historic seasons don't guarantee it because Jokic is having those too. 

Sometimes you run into a generational player who is unlike anything we've ever seen before. With that often comes MVPs, titles, etc. That's generally how things work, and for the most part nobody has an issue with that guy getting his deserved recognition. 

Yet the more of these types of seasons we get from Jokic, it appears he's the only one that people still have a problem with. It's all just very weird.