Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic concluded Friday’s overtime game against the Suns with the league’s first-ever 30/20/20 game, having totaled 31 points, 21 rebounds and 22 assists.
In some ways, the three-time MVP’s history-making stat line is almost unsurprising. Jokic continues to be on the forefront of award discussions while putting up video-game level stat lines every night.
The 30-year-old big man is averaging career highs of 28.9 points and 10.6 assists per game, while his 12.9 rebounds per game would be the second-best mark of his career. He’s doing this on an incredibly efficient .577/.439/.818 shooting split. His 43.9% three-point percentage and 4.4 attempts from deep per game are also both career highs.
And while Jokic’s stats might be unsurprising after three MVPs and six All-NBA appearances, it does not mean they should go overlooked. This kind of production is what fans read about in history books and resembles something of an old Wilt Chamberlain stat line.
Being an MVP isn’t all about individual statistics, however. Being the league’s most valuable player means leading a winning situation and making one’s teammates better. Jokic fulfills this criteria, having helped the Nuggets overcome a relatively shaky start to the season. Denver won nine straight from late January to late February and has emerged victorious in 14 of its last 17 games.
Christian Braun is having a season worthy of the Most Improved Player award and Russell Westbrook is proving to be a nice fit, along with other contributions up and down the lineup from the Nuggets’ starters and role players. Jokic has good players around him, but there’s no doubt he’s helping set them up for success.
Despite Jokic’s historic achievements, he’s still trailing Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in NBA.com’s most recent MVP ladder. Entering Friday, Gilgeous-Alexander appeared to be the runaway favorite for the award.
Gilgeous-Alexander, by the way, is absolutely deserving of the praise. He’s averaging a league-leading and career-high 32.8 points along with 5.1 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game. His 1.8 steals per night are second to only Dyson Daniels and he has posted an impressive .526/.378/.898 shooting line.
As we wrote Thursday, Gilgeous-Alexander’s efficiency is off the charts. His true-shooting and usage percentages are career highs, and he ranks first in the league among guards in the former category.
The Canadian superstar finished second in MVP voting last year and may very well come away with the award this year. He has become the NBA’s surest bet to score 50 points on a given night, having done so four times in the last seven weeks after having previously never accomplished the feat in his career.
Like Jokic, Gilgeous-Alexander accomplishes the two-pronged test of winning games and helping his teammates. The Thunder own the league’s second-best record at 52-11, sitting atop the Western Conference. Oklahoma City has only dropped two games since the start of February, winning 15 of its previous 17.
What’s more, the Thunder are doing this in the face of multiple injuries to key players. Marquee free agent addition Isaiah Hartenstein missed over 20 games due to injury this season while star second-year center Chet Holmgren has been limited to just 18 appearances. Lockdown defender Alex Caruso, acquired via trade, has also missed over 20 games.
There’s no doubt multiple Thunder players like Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace and Aaron Wiggins, to name a few, deserve individual praise. But Gilgeous-Alexander’s presence and elite offensive production are certainly helping bring out the best in those players as well.
Beyond the two hottest names in Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander, it’s easy to forget other players are worthy of being thrown into the conversation as well. Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s 30.8 points and 12.1 rebounds per game should not be overlooked. Jayson Tatum, Karl-Anthony Towns and Evan Mobley are also putting up tremendous numbers on contending teams. But all signs point to Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander being the top two in voting.
As NBA.com’s Shaun Powell writes, the Nuggets and Thunder play each other for the final two times this regular season on Sunday afternoon and Monday evening in back-to-back games. The results of those two contests could help sway voters in one direction or another. Premier matchups between the league’s best tend to go the most-noticed among fans, so it will be interesting to see if Jokic continues to close the perceived gap in the race. For what it’s worth, Basketball Reference’s 2024/25 NBA MVP tracker gives Jokic a 65.1% chance to win the award.
Regardless of what happens, it will be interesting to see if the clash between Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander ends up as close as Jokic’s first MVP win over Joel Embiid in ’21/22, the tightest race in recent memory. Both Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander are worthy of the honor and are putting up generational-type seasons.
That leads us to today’s question: Who should win the ’24/25 MVP award? Head to the comments to share your pick between Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander or to let us know if you believe another player should come away with the award.
Sure, there were still holes in his game. He rarely attempted long-range shots, converting just 31.0% of his 1.5 three-point attempts per game — and that represented the most accurate mark of his career. While he had a good deal of success on mid-range looks, having a guard who can’t space the floor isn’t ideal for a team’s offense.