Denver Nuggets: The MVP “debate” is rooted in boredom

When the Denver Nuggets social media department decided to ask its team’s Twitter following who their favorite Nugget of all time was, they briefly set the timeline ablaze. The ire wasn’t exactly directed at the question they were asking with this Oct. 20 tweet as much as it was directed at the image they designed to accompany it. The image featured “classic” Nuggets standing together, donning the uniforms from their playing days – from left to right in the photo, you’ll find Nick Van Exel, Dikembe Mutombo, Alex English, Nikola Jokic, and Chauncey Billups.

Standing in front of the group, buzz cut and burly figure on full display, is Jokic, the franchise’s present and future.

Missing from the graphic entirely, as an onslaught of seething reply guys (and Ja Morant) were almost too quick to point out, is Carmelo Anthony. “Where is Melo? He’s the best Nugget,” was just one variation of an oft-echoed sentiment. A user called @Bknicks lamented, “Ever heard of Melo ? U know the best player that ever played for this sad ass franchise ??”. Another, @jellybean8279, wrote, “Carmelo Anthony, no if ands or butts. The future may be different but total disrespect by not even putting him in the picture. That’s why they will never win with that attitude.”

Depending on who you ask, or what you read, the MVP race is alive and well, even if Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets is lapping the field.

At least one sentence of that last grievance has some truth to it. That “the future may be different” but to not put Melo in the picture is borderline disrespectful and at the very least a mistake. Anthony is a top 10 all-time scorer, one who patented his bucket-getting whilst wearing a Nugget uniform before making stops in New York, Oklahoma City, and others before Portland. But the “no ifs ands or butts” argument is a fascinating and incorrect one. In their response to one tweet specifically, the user aptly named @JokicTheSunGod quite possibly countered the point for all Nuggets’ fans when they wrote, “Not a single person who’s actually a Nuggets fan would have Melo as their favorite Nugget of all time”.

In fact, plenty of contemporary Nuggets’ fans might be a bit more infatuated by the doughy, lovable buzz-cut-donning center standing at the front of the image. Remember, the tweet’s prompt wasn’t “Who is the best Nugget of all time?” It asked for fan’s favorites, and though few of them responded with a serious answer, many of those who did respond instead offered GIFs of Jokic’s funnier moments as a reply, or stat-laden arguments for Alex English.

Many of those 240-character arguments still tend to better serve a “best Nugget” debate than a “favorite.” Sooner rather than later, both crowns will be Jokic’s to wear.

By this time next month, roughly and probably, Jokic will be named the first MVP in Nuggets’ franchise history, and the first pure center to win the award since Shaquille O’Neal in 1999-00. He’ll become the first MVP to play every single game of the regular season since Kobe Bryant did it for the Lakers in 2007-08, a stat that might otherwise ring hollow, but this year carries quite a bit of weight. To some, it’s even the determinative factor – if that’s the case, props and points to Jokic, who is the only 2020-21 All-Star to have appeared in every game this season.

To others, the determinative factor is ability. Those others are thus inclined to record their theoretical votes for Steph Curry – this season’s scoring champ and perhaps the lone reason the Golden State Warriors have a fighting chance in the play-in tournament – or Joel Embiid, whose statistical dominance in Philadelphia this season has arguably been what’s kept them atop the East with foes like the Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets breathing down their neck. To discount Jokic’s production in that argument, regardless of his team’s playoff chances or third-place season finish, is to 1) overthink, and 2) put to waste one of the single-most impressive statistical seasons in NBA history. (More on that in a moment.)

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The final, loudest section of the basketball/sports punditry bellowed and moaned about legacy. Fox Sports’ Nick Wright argued in favor of Chris Paul as a deserving winner, a claim that has the potential to be the bones of a sound argument… in any other season. He went on to note that Jokic, “historically speaking, [would] be the worst [MVP] we’ve had in 35 years,” and that Jokic is not an all-time player, while Paul is.

It’s not hard to dispel Wright’s rubbish. And though it’s not necessarily worth spending any more time than has already been spent doing so, it might be worth offering the fact that, should you combine these three determinative factors in MVP voting (which you essentially must in a season as baffling as this one, Jokic has the lone leg to stand on. For starters, he’s been the most available, as mentioned. You would also be hard-pressed to argue that ability shouldn’t be paramount; in that case, Jokic has everyone’s number by putting up better ones in a litany of statistical categories (VORP, BPM, win shares, PER, etc.). Additionally, he’s led the Nuggets to a top-three seed in the indisputably superior Western Conference, a point differential that only ranks behind five title contenders, and a fifth-best record of 13-6 since April 12, when the Nuggets were apparently dead in the water following Jamal Murray’s injury. That’s just one piece of his all-time legacy, which can’t possibly be written in full given that he’s still an active player.

If you need more, take a look at any highlight, on/off split, or teammate’s statistics to boot. You’ll find a case that is essentially spelled out for you; Jokic has been the motor behind his team’s success, and the best player in the league while doing so. This isn’t a fluke of a season, nor a desperation campaign put on by a player that requires a win in a play-in tournament in order to survive. It’s a dominant season from a dominant player who, sure, boasts a better surrounding cast than at least three of the four Western Conference play-in participants have in their starting lineups alone, but his team would almost certainly be participating in that tournament if not for his brilliance.

Unfortunately, there are those in the media who use their votes on players on the basis of total legacy and not single-season performance. Those players don’t necessarily always win, but they can skew narratives by having their names brought up in articles, on television, on podcasts, et al. Debates about Jokic vs. the field this season have somehow, on occasion, been more heated than any since the Westbrook-or-Harden debate of 2017. In one particularly entertaining instance, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps literally called Brian Windhorst “a jackass” on the latter’s podcast because he attempted to argue that – shocker – LeBron James should win this season’s MVP. (Of note: LeBron played in 45 games this regular season, the fewest of his career and what would be the fewest of any MVP in NBA history.)

To field an argument for a player other than Jokic isn’t necessarily impossible – that’s why voters are given five slots on their official ballots, not just one plus a blurb for explanation or rambling meditation. It is, however, rooted in boredom, and fueled by the very idea that NBA awards must have a debate attached to them and must be given to those who best encapsulates the essence of the award. That latter point contains ridiculous multitudes that would underscore the raw beauty of Jokic’s play in favor of Curry’s scoring barrages or LeBron James’ undying legend. But it’s the prior point that perhaps fuels the other.

Perhaps, every now and then, it’s okay to come to a consensus; to look at the options laid before us and recognize that, if we give it some brief thought, there’s only one that makes sense in the long run. No, there’s no need to wish for voters, fans, and players to become victims of groupthink, but to start an argument for argument’s sake is to unnecessarily employ ulterior narratives in a situation where only one case is entirely indisputable. Nikola Jokic, in this case, is both a favorite and the best. You’re better off letting it be as boring as that.