With the three-man list released by the NBA in recent days regarding the final candidates for the Most Valuable Player award, we can now actually feel the end-of-season spirit. Either Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, or Luka Doncic.
Who can take home the MVP award? How good of a year did each of them have? We are posing these questions as it is pretty interesting to analyze their regular seasons for the final time.
Nikola Jokić
Considered by many the MVP already, the Joker had an astonishing season yet again. While not as surprising as his previous years when he won MVP awards, the Denver Nuggets’ franchise player displayed excellent basketball capacity throughout the regular season, being a central piece for the Nuggets’ placement as the Western Conference number two seed.
With 79 games played, he showed nothing but pure consistency, effectiveness, and dominance across the board, especially in playmaking, and offensive production, with a True Shooting percentage of 65%, averaging nearly a triple-double a game. Greatness.
23-24 Stats: 26.4 PPG, 12.4 RPG, 9.0 APG, 58.3 FG%, 35.9 3P%, 81.7 FT%, 34.6 Minutes Per Game
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
SGA has had a beyond-superb season as the leader of the Oklahoma City Thunder squad. The 25-year-old has proven time and time again he is already a top player in the NBA and one of the most consistent this year. Only missing 7 games in the entire regular season, he has improved his percentages and effectiveness overall, as well as his impact on and off the court.
Not only does he shine offensively, but he also contributes massively on the defensive side of things, leading the league in steals, and perfecting his play execution. Unprecedented, and still, underrated, impeccable basketball from SGA
23-24 Stats: 30.1 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 5.5 APG, 53.5 FG%, 35.3 3P%, 87.4 FT%, 2 STL, 34 Minutes Per Game
Luka Dončić
Sooner or later, Luka is going to win the MVP. This season, there may be plenty of setbacks that can play against him during the voting and selection, such as media bias, player bias, team placement during the regular season, teammates, or other indirect factors.
But he has shown pure offensive perfection so far this season, improving his statistics and leading the Mavericks to a hopeful playoff run. Having seen his ridiculous offensive performances during the season, it is safe to say we are watching one of the best scorers of all time and we still do not know his ceiling.
23-24 Stats: 33.9 PPG, 9.2 RPG, 9.8 APG, 48.7 FG%, 38.2 3P%, 78.6 FT%, 1.4 STL, 34 Minutes Per Game
MVP Prediction: Nikola Jokic
The award could very well go to either of these players. The choice is pretty difficult to make, as all three of them can be deserving of the award for various reasons, and it would not be an unfair decision at all. However, considering all factors that come into play in the official voting, the upper hand goes to Jokić, due to the recent analysis, media bias, and voters. Joker is projected to win his third MVP of his fruitful career.
text sources: nba.com
