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Nikola Jokic is vying for this third MVP. He finished the 2022-23 season with averages of 24.5 points, 11.8 rebounds and 9.8 assists per game on 63.2% shooting from the field. No player has ever sniffed those averages, and Jokic did it while leading the Denver Nuggets to the first seed in the Western Conference.
But Jokic’s case will continually be diluted by fellow candidate Joel Embiid and of course by voter fatigue. Jokic has already captured two MVP awards in his career, and the opposition to his third MVP campaign has been stronger than ever.
With Jokic being one of the front-runners for the award, former All-Star and Jokic’s former Nuggets teammate DeMarcus Cousins expressed that he’s not comfortable with Jokic being a potential three-time MVP winner because it would put him in the GOAT debate.
“I am not okay with it being 3 MVPs in a row because then it becomes a conversation, ‘Is this the best basketball player to ever touch a basketball?’ I think we can all agree that he’s not. Not saying he can’t be, not saying he doesn’t deserve more down the road, but at this stage in his career, I am not okay with saying that“.
“He has not won anything, he hasn’t been to the Finals. There are a lot of things still in play for him. That’s my only concern. At this point, he’s the best center of all time. Three in a row? We’re putting him over the likes of Shaquille O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, Tim Duncan, and Wilt Chamberlain, that’s a tough conversation to have because we have seen what these guys have done. Can we sit right here and say Jokic not only is the best big ever, but the best basketball player ever with 3 MVPs in a row? I am not comfortable saying that.”
Demarcus Cousins says he’s not comfortable with Nikola Jokic winning three MVPs in a row because that would put him in the G.O.A.T conversation
“He hasn’t won anything.”
(Via @shobasketball )
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) April 10, 2023
