Strike 2: You can make a solid argument that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is this season’s NBA’s “Player of the Year.”
You cannot make the argument that he is the NBA’s Most Valuable Player.
There’s a distinct difference between the two terms.
There has not and maybe never will be a player who is more valuable to a good team than Nikola Jokic.
The Denver Nuggets superstar is very unlikely to receive his fourth NBA MVP Award when the winner is announced during this postseason. That’s largely because SGA’s team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, have been about a hundred games better in the win-loss column than the Nuggets and everybody else this season. OKC’s 68-win regular season has been one for the ages, and SGA is the main (but not only) reason. That level of team success makes him the favorite for the award, despite the fact that his actual “value” to his team isn’t nearly as great as Joker’s.
Keep in mind that the Thunder also have a second All-Star in Jalen Williams, plus a deep lineup that includes Lou Dort and Jaylin Williams too. They were able to thrive much of the season without the services of standout center Chet Holmgren, having shrewdly acquired another formidable big man, former Nugget Isaiah Hartenstein, during the offseason. With or without SGA, the Thunder would still be a playoff team.
Can you promise the same about the Nuggets without Joker? Not a chance.
Let’s make this quick. As we all know, Jokic had a season for the ages. He became the third player ever to average a triple-double, the first to ever finish in the top three is scoring, rebounding and assists and had the biggest workload of his fabulous career, leading the league in “total touches.” His “true shooting percentage,” including field goals, 3-pointers and free throws was an astonishing .663. With Joker on the court, the Nuggets outscored the opposition by almost 600 points. While he was resting, the Nuggets were outscored by 275 points.
Think about that. Without Joker, the Nuggets would not even be in these playoffs.
There’s simply no way on Earth that anyone on the planet was and is more “valuable” to a team.
Which is precisely why the NBA – and the other leagues still caught up in using the “MVP” terminology – should either create a separate award for the “Player of the Year” or change the name of its top honor to reflect what it really means. Gilgeous-Alexander deserves to be honored for what he and his team have accomplished this season. He was remarkable all year, leading the league in scoring by a wide margin and playing a big role in the league’s best defensive unit. SGA could very easily add more hardware this postseason. The fact that his supporting cast is superior to Joker’s doesn’t take away from anything he accomplished this season.
But it all makes SGA the NBA’s Player of the Year, but not the league’s Most Valuable Player.
They have awards for all sorts of things these days, including the usual MVP, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and even “Clutch” Player of the Year. Why not simply add “Player of the Year” to the top of that list, and allow the term “MVP” to fit an award that actually honors the player who was the most indispensable, irreplaceable and yes, valuable to his team?
Joker would have a half dozen of those trophies by now.
If they actually did make a change like that, they’d eventually have to change the name of the MVP award to the “Most Jokic Player” anyway.
Strike 2: The NBA needs to separate MVP from Player of the Year Mile High Sports.
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