Nikola Jokic is once again a top candidate for the MVP award and Jalen Brunson has a problem with that. On the Roommates Show, Brunson called out the media for pushing the Jokic MVP narrative when the Denver Nuggets are not a top seed as they had used the Dallas Mavericks’ seeding against Luka Doncic last season.
“Jokic is playing absolutely absurd,” Brunson said. His numbers are crazy, right? … They’re not seeded where they were last year and people are still talking about him being MVP.
“Individually, he deserves it,” Brunson continued. “But when Luka was averaging damn near a triple-double, but their seed was nowhere people wanted to be, they were like, ‘Oh, he shouldn’t get the MVP because of seeding.'”
“But obviously Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander) is getting up there,” Brunson added. “He’s closing in as the No. 1 guy right now. I’m just like, why do certain narratives work for some of them people?”
Does a double standard exist? Maybe, to an extent. A deeper look at the Mavericks’ 2023-24 season, though, shows why Doncic wasn’t really in the conversation at various points despite averaging 33.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, 9.8 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game.
The Mavericks started the campaign well and were a top-three seed in the West till about mid-December. Doncic was very much in the MVP conversation at the time, but then as his team struggled, he started falling out of it.
The Mavericks spent much of January, February, and the early part of March as the seventh or eighth seed in the West. When you’re that far down the standings for that big of a period, you’re not going to be in the conversation, especially when you have a teammate like Kyrie Irving.
Doncic did eventually manage to get the Mavericks the fifth seed in the West and that put him back in the conversation again. He finished third in MVP voting behind Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had led their teams to the joint-best record in the conference. So, while Doncic didn’t get the award, he did get consideration when the team’s record improved.
Now when we get to Jokic this season, the Nuggets haven’t had that long stretch where they were way down the standings. Sure, they were briefly eighth/ninth in December, but they managed to rebound from that.
The Nuggets are currently the fourth seed in the West with a 23-15 record and they’ve been in that position for basically the entire month. There’s no reason to leave Jokic out of the conversation when that’s the case, especially when you see his numbers.
Jokic is averaging 31.2 points, 13.2 rebounds, 9.8 assists, 1.8 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game in 2024-25 while shooting 55.4% from the field and 47.1% from beyond the arc. Those are outrageous numbers but the fact that the Nuggets aren’t the top seed is being held against the three-time MVP now.
Many believe Gilgeous-Alexander has taken the lead in the race as he has led the Oklahoma City Thunder to an outstanding 32-6 record. As things stand, the Thunder look like they’re going to run away with the top seed as they are 6.5 games ahead of the second-placed Houston Rockets.
If they do, then Gilgeous-Alexander, who is averaging 31.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 2.0 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game, will most probably end up winning MVP.
As for Doncic, he won’t be eligible for any awards and accolades this season. The five-time All-Star has been on the sidelines since suffering a calf injury in the Christmas Day game against the Minnesota Timberwolves and won’t be able to play 65 games this season.
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