Nikola Jokic is one of the most talented offensive centers in NBA history. He’s a 7-footer that can post up with finesse, he has an unblockable mid-range shot and is shoot 38% from 3PT range this season. This season Jokic is averaging 26.3 PTS, 13.5 REB, 7.5 AST on 59%-38%-75% shooting splits. He is one of the best playmakers in the NBA and he’s playing the best defense he ever has. He is in the best shape of his career and has quick feet which helps him stick to guards like Zach Lavine. He might not get a ton of blocks, but he contests shots at an elite level near the rim resulting in misses for the opponent team. A reigning NBA MVP got better while 2 of his team’s best players are out with injuries.

Let’s talk about some advanced stats here. Comparing touches vs time of possession, Jokic logs 99.9 touches per game however his time of possession is only 4.1 mins. To put this into the perspective James Harden logs 92 touches with 9 mins of possession, Luka Doncic logs 90 touches with 9.4 mins of possession and Lebron logs 90 touches with 6.6 mins of possession. This shows us how Jokic makes rapid decisions that keeps the ball moving which is the key to the Nuggets offense. Jokic has the highest on/off in NBA history, with Jokic on the floor the Nuggets have a Net Rating of +14.3 and when he is off the floor the Nuggets have a Net Rating of -16.5. After all this, why was Jokic only 4th in the Kia MVP Ladder until this week?

The MVP award is notorious for favoring the best player of the best team rather than the player who is the most “valuable” to his team and the Denver Nuggets are struggling due to injuries to Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. However, this takes nothing away from the historic season Jokic and statistically speaking, Jokic is the best player in the NBA and it isn’t even close.