MVP.


the Most Valuable Player conversation of this season brings about 2 finalists who both have shown that they were levels above the competition.. so what have they done and who’s deserving of being crowned the NBA’s Most Valuable Player?


there’s a chance the MVP award gets announced tonight.. or maybe it doesn’t.. either way, this competition was hot all season and continues to heat up as both are enthralled in a battle to the next round of the playoffs.


Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, aptly nicknamed SGA or “Aura” is the lightning wielding guard currently captaining the Oklahoma City Thunder and this season, the conversation of Most Valuable Player involved him as he was electric en route to leading his team to the best record in the NBA, 68-14, with tact scoring, fundamentals and efficiency. SGA averaged nearly 33 points, 5 rebounds and almost 7 assists on 52% FG percentage en-route to clinching a postseason berth, alongside taking home an All-Star and the NBA’s scoring champion, given to the player who accomplished the highest scoring average per game of any competitor in the league..


so you’d think with all of that, alongside his team breaking records all season: most consecutive regular season wins, most franchise wins in a season, most points in the first half of a NBA playoff game alongside his personal success, he should unanimously be the NBA’s MVP right?


wrong.


in the same Western Conference, a formidable opponent ran rampant in the city of 5280ft.. one mile above sea level. in Denver, the already 3x MVP Nikola Jokic was doing what he does best: transcend above the competition in nonchalant and record fashion.. so what’d he do this season that makes him a deserving candidate as well? 


the Joker averaged nearly 30 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists on 58% shooting en route to assisting the Denver Nuggets winning 50 games, good for 4th in the Western Conference.

“but he won 18 less games then SGA, how could he possibly be deserving of the title the Most Valuable if he had significantly less team success?”
remember.. this is an already 3x NBA MVP so he had to do something notable, right?

try this on for size: minus the fact it’s been said he averaged a triple double all season (a feat only recorded by 2 other players in NBA history..) the Joker finished top 3 in averages for 4 out of the 5 major statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists and steals.. never before done in the history of the league..

“impressive, but-“


Jokic also recorded 34 triple doubles, the highest scoring triple-double in NBA history, the first player in NBA history to record 41/15/13/2/1 in a game, the fastest player to record 16,000/8,000/5,000 in a career.. and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. there’s enough records he broke this season alone to become an all time great, let alone what he’s done over the last season..


so it remains: does the MVP belong to the lightning wielding tactician? or the gravitational big man with touch we’ve never quite seen before?


find out soon.. on the NBA. 

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