Between Nikola Jokic and Luke Doncic: JJ Redick chooses Jokic for MVP Award… See more…
Jokic has managed to stand out despite not having as much help as other stars in the league, which could end up actually boosting his MVP candidacy
With the MVP race in full gear, everyone is looking to poke holes in the games of Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid. Truth be told, there isn’t anything wrong with how these guys are playing, but fans are doing whatever they can to boost the candidacy of the player they want to win the award.
JJ Redick believes that Embiid should win MVP, but he defended Jokic against fans criticizing him for his lack of success in the postseason, noting that Jokic has yet to play alongside an All-Star teammate throughout his career with the Denver Nuggets.
“It’s not what Jokic doesn’t do, it’s clearly not what Jokic doesn’t do. I mean, this is a guy who, over the course of his playoff career, has averaged 25, 10, and 6. Last year, against Golden State, a top-two defense, he averaged 31, 13, and 6 on 57 percent shooting from the field. It’s not what he does in the playoffs.
Let’s just acknowledge, Jokic has yet to have an All-Star teammate, and certainly, he has talented teammates; Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr., and Aaron Gordon is having a fantastic season. But some of this is on his teammates; that’s the nature of our sport. He’s simultaneously making his teammates better; there’s a number of ways we can measure that.
He’s making them better, but what’s their ceiling? Does he have a real Robin?” – JJ Redick, The Dan Patrick Show
Everyone wants to drag Jokic for the things he hasn’t been able to do throughout his career, but it’s clear that his play becomes even more impressive when you look at what he has done. As Redick mentions, Jokic has never played alongside an All-Star teammate but is still very nearly averaging a triple-double on the season for the Nuggets while shooting over 63 percent from the floor. Jokic’s numbers are simply incredible.
The Nuggets have a solid supporting cast around Jokic to help him out, but he doesn’t truly have a second star alongside to take the pressure off of him. Even when teams key in on Jokic and try to slow him down, they simply have no success doing so because he can do a little bit of everything on the basketball court.
Even though he seems to be pulling for Embiid, Redick makes a pretty good point regarding Jokic’s candidacy. Either way, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the MVP race plays out and, of course, who ends up winning the award.
