Parsing the NBA’s MVP debate around Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid amid questions of voters’ motives

It’s hard to deny how downright toxic the discussion around the NBA’s MVP award has gotten over the last few weeks.

It’s been overridden by everything going on with Ja Morant, but the bad taste should remain. It’s gone through the predictable cycle of name-calling, bullying and most recently, accusations of racism from former players on daily discussion shows.

At the center of it sits the two-time MVP, Nikola Jokic. He’s aiming for a third straight win, which would put him in hallowed company. Only Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell and Larry Bird have had the award in a three-year chokehold, Bird being the most recent from 1984-86.

Jokic is averaging a triple-double for the best team in the West, although there’s been major slippage for the Nuggets the last few weeks. Several published straw polls have Jokic installed as a shoo-in for the honor yet again, which began the nitpicking of both his game and motives of the voters.

First, it was the accusation of stat-padding. Then, it was bringing up MVP votes from the past, the three-year run where Steve Nash won two in a row, followed by Dirk Nowitzki winning in 2007.

It was roundly shouted down on television and elsewhere, with many Jokic backers insinuating any MVP vote that doesn’t go to him means the voter is some uncivilized brute who can’t appreciate the sophistication of his game.

Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid sits at the other end, as he’s been second to Jokic the last couple years, almost like Clyde Drexler to Michael Jordan, good but not good enough. Embiid leads the league in scoring again, even making a sizable leap in that department. He took it to Jokic in their one-on-one matchup several weeks ago and is still a mammoth presence defensively.

And despite how good both players are, neither one of them is Giannis Antetokounmpo — the best player in the game, the irresistible and unrelenting force on both ends who could very well be the last man standing in June.

It should make for intriguing conversation, especially as teams are jockeying for playoff positioning with a few weeks remaining in the regular season. There’s no more slog to the…


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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2023-03-20 21:47:41

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