A lot of people have claimed that Nikola Jokic would be the ‘worst MVP’ since Steve Nash. Well, those people have either not watched Jokic play this season or they don’t know anything about basketball at all.
Jokic has been superb. He’s proven to be the greatest passing big man of all time and became a way more aggressive scorer this season.
The Denver Nuggets have endured multiple key injuries such as Jamal Murray, Will Barton, and even Monte Morris at some point in the season, yet Jokic has continued to lead the way with his scoring and playmaking.
That’s why NBA insider Bill Simmons went as far as to say that Jokic is currently in a better level than Dirk Nowitzki was when he led the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals in the 2010/11 season:
“Jokic the level he’s at now is even higher than Dirk was during his championship run. Dirk made other people better just because his scoring was so great but, Jokic is creating baskets for guys who aren’t good. That Mavs team had Terry who was very good and unbelievable defenders in Chandler and Marrion at that point,” Simmons said on The Bills Simmons podcast, as reported by redditor u/Claustecter1015.
Dirk averaged 27.7 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.1 three-pointers per game on 48/46/94 shooting splits during those playoffs, carrying a team that didn’t have the most stars in the league to an incredible run.
Jokic, on the other hand, is currently averaging 33.0 points, 10.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 2.5 three-pointers on 52/42/92 splits, so maybe Simmons has a valid point right there.
Even so, we all know how that great run ended for Dirk, whereas Jokic still needs to get past the Phoenix Suns and whoever gets to the Western Conference Finals and NBA Finals to be in the same conversation as the German legend.
