NBA
THE JOKER FOR MVP!
The Joker, SGA, or Luka - who do you think deserves this year's NBA MVP?
Apr 23, 2024
The debate about who deserves to win the NBA MVP award has gone into overdrive as the NBA recently announced that Luka Dončić, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Nikola Jokić are this year's NBA MVP finalists.
Now, if you were on any of the major social networks within hours following the MVP finalists' announcement, you probably walked away with the impression that the Dallas Mavericks, Luka Doncic, had wrapped up the award.
The internet has spoken, and Doncic is the chosen one.
A POLL OF CURRENT NBA PLAYERSInstead of running a poll on X or YouTube, the Athletic chose a more scientific approach, trying to gauge who would win the MVP award this year. They conducted a highly scientific poll targeting 141 current NBA players, resulting in Jokić narrowly beating Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for the MVP title. Jokić secured 41.8 percent of the first-place votes, while Gilgeous-Alexander trailed closely behind with 36.9 percent.
THE UNDERRATED OPINION
We all know that the playoffs are not supposed to impact who wins a regular-season award, but after watching the first couple of games of the playoffs, it is clear as water is wet that Jokic is the best player in the NBA.
Take, for example, The Jokers' performance against the Lakers in game two of their first-round matchup—he played 41 minutes, scored 27 points, collected 20 rebounds, and had ten assists. Putting the stats aside, he clearly looks like, plays like, and, in my opinion, is the best player on the planet. As boring as it may be, he deserves to win his third MVP trophy.