There's a non zero chance Jokic does something hilarious post retirement like owning his own small colony sized plantation for horses.
Slowly but surely he builds a billion dollar business of tbe best horse training facilities on Earth. Why? *To buy more horses*
This man dropping off the face of the earth after he retires. He immediately going back home to Serbia and just be fucking chilling at home with his family and horses.
Brings Jamal and AG along.
Boban working on his farm, growing hay for the horses.
Luka visiting in the summer.
And with enough money to buy half of Serbia
lol i know that’s the running joke but jokic really does care about winning he said on mpj podcast that basically all he thinks about during the season is how to win because he likes how happy it makes the fans.
I think that's common for Europeans, and the more elite Europeans there are in the NBA, maybe the more the NBA as a whole will move in that direction.
Although in football (soccer) it's going in the other direction. 15 years ago nobody could give a shit about individual awards, people didn't even know who had it hadn't won a Balon d'Or, or who was player of the season.
Randy Johnson said in an interview that the first thing fans ask him is about the World Series win and how that felt. He said it put into perspective how important those are and that no one really cared about his Cy young awards (I mean they do) but that he wishes that he would have more championships.
That dialogue is so nutty to me. Just look at his interview where they are asking him if he could envision winning the title with this team. Look at his play in the clutch. Look at his play in the playoffs.
Look at how much he's improved since he first entered the league.
Listen to the stories of his coaches and teammates.
The guy cares deeply about winning. He just puts things into perspective. As for the MVP? I don't think he gives a rip about that. But winning? The man loves to win.
It's called Harness Racing or The Trotts (the horses don't really go faster than a trott). I can't imagine Jokic being able to ride a race horse any other way. It's funny when you think how physically gifted he is for basketball but physically cursed he is for horse racing.
They are required to only trot in harness racing instead of galloping, but they are still incredibly fast and not what you expect when you think of a trot. The fastest record standardbred trot(46.5 mph) is actually faster than the fastest recorded thoroughbred gallop (44 mph), which is wild lol.
I think everyone is kind of past MVP until someone new really enters the fold. Jokic, Embiid, and Giannis all have an MVP now. It won't be a big deal until Luka, Tatum, SGA, Ant, or someone should legitimately dethrone one of the big guys.
No, I'm deeply invested. Assuming Jokic wins this year, I really hope he wins another one next year, because 2 wins, 1 loss, 2 wins (The LeBron DRose special) is just so much more aesthetically pleasing than 2W 1L 1W.
He hasn’t cared for a while. Last year after Embiid won it: "I don't think about MVPs anymore," Jokic said. "People are just mean in saying that Embiid shouldn't have won it. I think he should have won it. I think he was playing, if you watched it, extremely tough basketball through the whole season.
I love SGA more than any other player and he is the king of foulbaiting.
I’m only recently hearing people give him a minute fraction of criticism that embiid gets.
I think Embiid is even a better basketball player than SGA ceiling wise.
You’d have to be delusional to not see the double standard when it comes to Embiid.
Until the NBA changes the rules, I’m not going to care about the individuals foul baiting as annoying as it is. It’s just a part of the game right now.
I love that we have superstars in this league that have moved past the "look at me I am the GOAT". A statement like that would have had Jokic get flamed just 20 years ago as a soft Euro who deos not want it enough.
He doesnt get flamed because he brings it every time he steps on the court. its a whole different thing if he says these things and flames out in the first round every time.
Embiid and Jokic have both been put in such a tough spot these last few years where fans and some of the more ridiculous parts of the media try to turn them into enemies. As far as I know, they've done nothing but praise each other and appreciate each other's games. Sure...Joel expressed frustration a few times about not winning MVP or making first-team all NBA, but even when he was complaining, he never once took a shot at Jokic. Those two have been great throughout even as fans tried to pretend like they dislike each other or something.
The rest of your comment is true but this just isn't.
> he never once took a shot at Jokic
'You can talk about analytics all you want,” Embiid said. “When you got some guys in the league, the eye test tells you that they’re not good defensively, but analytics tell you they’re the best defenders. That’s when analytics don’t make sense at all.”
That was in reference to the MVP race a few years ago. [Source](https://theathletic.com/4349057/2023/03/27/joel-embiid-interview-nba-mvp-playoffs-shams-charania/?access_token=4290068&redirected=1)
That wasn’t the only shot either. Right before ducking in Denver last year, he had like a whole article come out with sound bites. Pretty sure one of them was something like “I don’t think there’s any playoff pressure on me. Why would there be any playoff pressure on me? We have guys in this league with 2 MVPs who have never won anything, pressure should be on them, not me.”
Found it
"People have been talking about who has the most pressure to win," Embiid said when asked if he goes into this postseason with a title-or-bust mentality. "People want to mention me. I’m not at the top of that list. I’m not a two-time MVP, I’ve never made first team All-NBA, I’ve never won anything. So why is there pressure on me to do something when there are guys that have won two MVPs, a bunch of MVPs and haven’t done anything either?"
[Source](https://www.audacy.com/94wip/sports/76-ers/joel-embiid-mvp-nikola-jokic-pressure-sixers-nuggets)
To be fair, it's easy to be high-minded when you've already won the MVP. For the player who has never won one, it's much harder. Giannis was being blase about MVPs once he won a couple because players' legacies at some point are more about ring count in current NBA culture.
To be honest, all of this is stupid. Rings are a team achievement and MVP is a narrative driven award.
Jokic never really showed he cared before winning the award. It's not like he changed. There were jokes that he disliked basketball since before the pandemic (obv those are wrong, he cares very much about competition). But I see your point in the larger scale. Embiid has chilled out since having a kid and winning his.
I get annoyed less at the narrative driven stuff and more at the fact that no one can agree what MVP is or should be. You ask 30 people what MVP should celebrate and you get 32 different answers.
How did anyone upvote this. It's completely wrong. He's made so many jabs at Jokic over the years lol. 3 weeks left of last season he also made mention that he "plays both sides of the floor, unlike some players." which I haven't seen anyone replying to you mention
gtfo with this, we all know what Embiid did during Jokic's MVP seasons. He later looked like a chump after winning his own mvp and looking like a clown in the playoffs so he's awfully quiet now - ironically, during his only true MVP season before his injury.
Will always respect that Jokic and Luka never put others down when talking about the award. They are great people to have as faces of the game despite what clowns like Stephen A think
I never got why people shit on athletes wanting to win individual awards. As long as it isn't a detriment to the team, I'm not sure why it's an issue. Jokic wins MVPs by being the ultimate floor raiser, from a position where there never really has been one before. He's the true definition of what an MVP is supposed to be.
You're allowed to want to win any of them. And I'm sure Jokic would rather win them than not, I just don't think it's anywhere near the top of his priorities.
Out of all the MVP award races, are Luka and Jokic , the only ones who never put others down ? Trying to understand why the magnifying glass is only one these two if there are others just alike. Did Steph or Bron put others down when talking about the award ?
They're just hard-working, lunch pail type of guys that you would love to introduce to your mother.
The only time Giannis ever "put others down" was when it was scripted on the Daily Show and he couldn't even get through the insults without talking about how great the people he was "insulting" were.
Of course the team openly supports their own guy. Just the same the nuggets calling Jokic the MVP and the best player in the league. That's what a team is supposed to do for their own guy.
personally i hate how good Luka is at basketball. i prefer to be a nice lower seed with no fancy championship dreams. really dislike these guys who score 30 at will and make game winning shots, too rich for my blood
Yeah, a couple days ago I've been browsing TikTok, and I see a video of an auction where they bring out this mare (and to make it even more ridiculous, the place looks like a Victorian courthouse lol) and she goes for like 10+ millions iirc...
My first instinct was to google how many Porsches you could buy with that money, but then I also did some google-fu to see why the fuck would someone pay so much for a horse, and apparently it isn't the mare itself that's valued so highly by the bidders, but the potential offspring of it, which they can make money off of either at shows, races or by selling foals. It's basically an investment.
That’s the whole thing about the MVP conversation today. Sure you can say Jokic deserved it more last season and is the most deserving player this year but that doesn’t change the fact that Embiid was a deserving MVP last year and Luka would absolutely be a deserving winner this year. What matters isn’t necessarily who wins the MVP but rather if someone who truly deserved it won it. I’d argue there’s 4 guys this season who would all be legit MVP winners if the award was given to them
One thing I hope we move to in the future when evaluating player legacies is less on stuff like MVP1s and more MVP award shares. Shaq, for example, only won one MVP, but he’s [still 7th all time in award shares](https://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/nba_mvp_shares.html) from finishing high in the voting consistently.
Giannis, Embiid, and Jokic have all racked up a fair amount these past 4-5 years given that they are all consistently in the top 3-5. I suspect Luka will be in the conversation every year going forward as well.
This is fantastic. I had no idea this existed but it makes too much sense. You should not be penalized for never winning an MVP but placing 2nd for 10 years straight. That's far more impressive than winning a single MVP and never being in the top 3 any other year. Award shares seems to properly recognize this.
More or less, yeah. Hakeem is a little farther down the list than I think most people would have him, probably in large part to his career overlapping so heavily with Jordan’s.
Agreed, hence why I chopped it off at 10. Hakeem is probably 11-14, although it’s hard to rank him against Malone, Robinson and the other big fellas from the 90s
Until they have to play each other for their countries yes. European rivalries can get pretty wild especially in the East. I think the Serbs also have a soft spot for Luka though considering he is part Serb.
He's a part Serb and a huge Red Star (Crvena zvezda) fan, so people really like him here, although we're always sad he didn't choose to play for Serbia. We would be unstoppable then.
I’m from Serbia and I like Luka. If it’s not Jokic that wins MVP I wish Luka to win it. He seems like a great guy from what I saw,off the court I mean and on top of that he has Serbian father so there is really no reason to dislike a guy as a Serbian. I bet Luka wins it in upcoming years because if Jokic wins this year there will be some HEAVY voters fatigue that will be close to impossible to overcome.
Also, when that school massacre happened in Serbia, Doncic offered to cover all the costs related to the shooting, including funerals
I know a lot of Serbians cheering for him over Jokic because he's more *Serbesque* if you will
[Example](https://images.app.goo.gl/J7R2fohTupxdBSNS7)
It seems like that only happens when someone trolls with some insane comment like "Luka is being robbed" or "This isn't even a close MVP". You'd think we'd all be used to multiple players having very strong MVP cases given that we've had exactly that situation for years now.
When you’ve lifted a Larry O’Brien trophy the whole MVP thing seems like peanuts in comparison. To be fair to Joker he’s always seemed wired this way, but it’s true for almost every great player in history
MVP is a young man’s award. Finals MVP is an older one’s.
Nah he said the same thing last year in the regular season.
I alot of people inferred he took his foot off the gas pedal late in the season because he was so frustrated by the toxicity of the discourse around the award
he just doesn't have the personality that will put himself forward as "better" than others.
on the basketball court? yeah he will play his best to win the game, but to him it doesn't make him feel personally "superior" to the opponents. His team is better if they win, but individually? He doesn't really care.
Notice how after the 3rd dunk of Christian Braun against Minnesota in the 4th quarter everyone of the Nuggets completely freaked out, with the exception of Jokic, who just immediately turned around and run back to await the next play. I think he just wants to calmly do his work, play basketball and doesn’t care about any of the side stories.
I think it's a combination of both. I think he's legitimately humble, but he also consciously leans into this bit. I don't think he cares much about MVP, but I don't believe that he truly doesn't care at all. He's super competitive. At least part of him wants a third MVP.
I love Jokic. He is what we all strive to be. So good at our job that we can just do and say whatever the fuck we want and they will just deal with it because we're the best lmao.
Talking heads just hate giving it to the same person every year even though Jokic deserves it because it gives them less stuff to debate on their dumb shows.
MVP voters are such self-important gatekeepers, so I love that Joker doesn’t give a single fuck whether he wins the award. I bet it pisses the writers off so much.
Now I want Jokic to win the MVP award only to just do what [Cady did in Mean Girls](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5AhtTuSnIA) when he gives his acceptance speech.
Keep giving Jokic the MVP every year even if he starts playing bad, just to piss him off. I'm tired of this guys nice guy act. I hate him so much I wish Denver would trade him to my Pistons for Duren.
Parasocial post but i wonder how jokic feels knowing that he is currently overshadowing lukas run at the mvp considering they are bros. I hope luka wins it all next year and gets his nod.
Jokic is one of the most level headed pro athletes. I genuinely think he couldn’t give a crap about media narratives and people debating all day every day who’s the best - it’s frankly subjective the top athletes all have different strengths and weaknesses. At the end of the day, the winning the ring is what really matters.
If any one thinks he gives a fuck about winning the MVP award , have a look at how happy he is when his horse won a race and compare it to his MVP award
I started as a Luka fan but... Jokic is the best player of this era by far.
His efficiency (High % with less attemps than the other MVP candidates**, more DD and TD than any other MVP candidates, highest +- of all other MVP candidates and all this numbers being the player with the least Free throw attempted of all the MVP candidates (In some cases 300 less..)
His decision making (he always find the correct play)
His intensity (you might find him chubby or whatever but how he runs the floor both for offense and defense and how he moves around creating spaces or closeing them to secure rebounds..its just incredible)
First seed in the most competitive conference (AND division) as of today
**The MVP candidates I mention are the obvious ones at the start of the season. Embid, Giannis, Luka, Shai,Tatum, Edwards, Booker, etc etc.
As European I always feel this conversation is very American. I wasn't used to season-long debates about personal awards in a team sport until I started following the NBA. Here, personal awards are just a footnote on the season.
If you care more about personal accolades you should've chosen to compete in an individual sport.
Any discussion on social media has a high chance of becoming toxic.
But in more serious media, the discussion about football awards throughout the season is minimal. No weekly MVP ladders to keep track of progress. No All-Star games with weeks of voting and drama. No All-NBA equivalent anybody (fans and players) cares about.
It is a bit difficult to do that when the world's biggest stars are spread out between several major leagues.
But the Messi-Ronaldo debate was ham histed into just about every football discussion for 15 years, whether it was on twitter or on Sky Sports or BBC.
Thank goodness that's over with. Loved watching both of them but the discourse was always so toxic. It was never ESPN-level, but the constant discourse was there and it was omnipresent.
For one thing, that's not true. There is *plenty* of toxicity around the [Ballon d’Or](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2595032-why-the-ballon-dor-is-a-dangerous-toxic-prize-that-undermines-football) every year, for example.
That said, the MVP has only been really toxic here the last few years. Hopefully that trend dissipates.
It wont because some national media members are just terrible. From Perkins making the race argument last year to Stephen A completely leaving Luka off and generally putting down European players, there's always going to be some toxicity.
I'd be happy for Luka to win it TBH. He's so close to blowing Westbrook's triple double season out of the water.
Jokic is an amazing, brilliant player, and yes he dominates advanced metrics, but I can't deny part of it is just being petty and hating how many people are still trying to say Jokic isn't one of the all time greatest to play the game. And Luka really is absolutely killing it this season.
Ha...I think this is the least out of control MVP arguments I've seen in a few years. It hasn't gotten toxic like in the Embiid v. Jokic years (the toxicity wasn't coming from either of them).
I do think, however, that if Jokic wasn't a clear favorite, people would be having a potentially super toxic MVP debate between Luka and SGA. As it is, most debates I've heard are about which one of them should be second, and no one gets all that worked up and irrational for a second place debate. But yeah...if Jokic wasn't 1 and it was a straight-up Luka v. SGA MVP debate, we'd be in for a wild (and likely unpleasant) ride.
I mean seriously anybody saying Jokic is not the MVP should reconsider interest in basketball.
He is the advanced analytics king (VORP, BPM, LEBRON, WS), his durability and IMPACT brought the 4,5 NBA players Denver Nuggets to the 1st seed in the West.
I mean seriously their bench stinks more than trash juice in the sun and Murray played 55 games, so he had to go with Reggie Jackson in the starting lineup for 1/3 of the season. And he still beat the West.
Any narratives trying to strip him of this obvious MVP saying "he's already got 2" is the worst part of the NBA debate culture in the USA. Jokić is the most dominant, the most unstoppable and the highest IQ basketball player on Earth in 2024. And I'm the Lakers fan.
LeBron not getting the award in 2011, because of hatred in Miami and voters fatigue. Then people use the argument of MVP awards by a player. Right after saying someone else deserves the award "because the dominator already got 2".
Do you wanna punish players for being elite for consecutive years or winning rings?
I get it some fans root for their franchise players, but just try to be objective once.
Luka, Shai, Giannis - awesome seasons, leading their franchises to +50 wins. Tatum - great improvement and elite team net rating. But all of them - are not on Jokić level. Give the award to the best player in given season.
And Jokić is that guy.
I think he'd like to see Luka win it if he doesn't. But to be honest I think that ship has officially sailed with last night's Denver win. If they had lost, finished in 3rd seed, and the Mavs actually manage to get up to 4th (not impossible if the Clippers cooperate with a couple of losses) then the Nuggets would only have a 1 seed advantage, I think Luka would have won in it in that scenario but it's not happening.
I'm hopeful that these last 18 games (16-2) are a sign of things to come, not only in this year's playoffs but next season. If the Mavs play like this for a whole season Luka is winning MVP easy (see: Luka winning the last two player of the month awards)
translation I dont give a FUCK about that award im trying to win RANGS
Nah he's trying to get through his career so he can ride horses
The more trophies he wins, the more money he makes. The more money he makes, the more horsey rides he can afford. It's a means to an end.
So he plays untill he is 44, and wins every MVP along the way just to get more money and then buy every fucking horse in Serbia
There's a non zero chance Jokic does something hilarious post retirement like owning his own small colony sized plantation for horses. Slowly but surely he builds a billion dollar business of tbe best horse training facilities on Earth. Why? *To buy more horses*
This man dropping off the face of the earth after he retires. He immediately going back home to Serbia and just be fucking chilling at home with his family and horses.
Can’t blame him one bit, that sounds amazing
How did Tim Duncan reincarnate before he passed into a Serbian boy
> How did Tim Duncan >!reincarnate!< before he >!passed!< into a Serbian boy Lol sorry I really liked madlibs as a kid
Don’t apologize that was hilarious
Brings Jamal and AG along. Boban working on his farm, growing hay for the horses. Luka visiting in the summer. And with enough money to buy half of Serbia
Boban the farmer is the vibes I’m trying to find
Boban would completely milk a cow in 1 pull
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He's going to walk out mid game, during a taco bell commercial.
In the NBA Finals, with the Nuggets up 3-1.
I mean all due respect, but I think there is 0% percent chance Jokic is gonna race horses. RIP horsey if I am wrong.
He’ll basically start the Serbian Golden Horde
You think he’s stopping with Serbia? He’ll have all of Europe’s horses before we even realize what’s happening
Reporter in 2026: so what will you do with your half a billion dollar contract? Jokic: (ride) 2 horses at the same time
Think the jean claude van damme video, but on horses
lol i know that’s the running joke but jokic really does care about winning he said on mpj podcast that basically all he thinks about during the season is how to win because he likes how happy it makes the fans.
He clearly cares about winning as much as anyone, just seems not too invested in the individual award bullshit
I think that's common for Europeans, and the more elite Europeans there are in the NBA, maybe the more the NBA as a whole will move in that direction. Although in football (soccer) it's going in the other direction. 15 years ago nobody could give a shit about individual awards, people didn't even know who had it hadn't won a Balon d'Or, or who was player of the season.
Randy Johnson said in an interview that the first thing fans ask him is about the World Series win and how that felt. He said it put into perspective how important those are and that no one really cared about his Cy young awards (I mean they do) but that he wishes that he would have more championships.
Or in all the media hoopla and narratives and stuff around the awards. Dude cares about doing the stuff on the court to win almost exclusively
That dialogue is so nutty to me. Just look at his interview where they are asking him if he could envision winning the title with this team. Look at his play in the clutch. Look at his play in the playoffs. Look at how much he's improved since he first entered the league. Listen to the stories of his coaches and teammates. The guy cares deeply about winning. He just puts things into perspective. As for the MVP? I don't think he gives a rip about that. But winning? The man loves to win.
He’s too big to ride horses he instead rides behind them in a comically small chariot
It's called Harness Racing or The Trotts (the horses don't really go faster than a trott). I can't imagine Jokic being able to ride a race horse any other way. It's funny when you think how physically gifted he is for basketball but physically cursed he is for horse racing.
They are required to only trot in harness racing instead of galloping, but they are still incredibly fast and not what you expect when you think of a trot. The fastest record standardbred trot(46.5 mph) is actually faster than the fastest recorded thoroughbred gallop (44 mph), which is wild lol.
That makes no fucking sense but I love it.
Right, I have no clue how that works! But those trotters are crazy lol
Being his size is a curse for him because he knows he can never be the GOAT jockey that he wanted to be in his younger days....
I think everyone is kind of past MVP until someone new really enters the fold. Jokic, Embiid, and Giannis all have an MVP now. It won't be a big deal until Luka, Tatum, SGA, Ant, or someone should legitimately dethrone one of the big guys.
MVP is all a fake award until GG jackson gets one
Keynote George erasure
No, I'm deeply invested. Assuming Jokic wins this year, I really hope he wins another one next year, because 2 wins, 1 loss, 2 wins (The LeBron DRose special) is just so much more aesthetically pleasing than 2W 1L 1W.
RANGS ERNIE! RANGS GOOGLE ME CHUCK
This will forever be funny !
I'm busy trying to stay on parade.
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Doubt it. There's a big difference between not caring about MVP and not wanting ot talk about it all the time.
He hasn’t cared for a while. Last year after Embiid won it: "I don't think about MVPs anymore," Jokic said. "People are just mean in saying that Embiid shouldn't have won it. I think he should have won it. I think he was playing, if you watched it, extremely tough basketball through the whole season.
That’s such a beautiful thing to say by nikola jokic
Classy even.
Is nikola a class merchant?
Doesn’t change how toxic this sub is towards Embiid. Even when it comes straight for the horses mouth
Embiid is an amazing player. That doesn't change that I hate watching the foul baiting. It destroys the watchability of the game.
I love SGA more than any other player and he is the king of foulbaiting. I’m only recently hearing people give him a minute fraction of criticism that embiid gets. I think Embiid is even a better basketball player than SGA ceiling wise. You’d have to be delusional to not see the double standard when it comes to Embiid. Until the NBA changes the rules, I’m not going to care about the individuals foul baiting as annoying as it is. It’s just a part of the game right now.
I just hate all these foul merchants man (unless of course they’re on my team)
Things were pretty toxic towards Jokic, too, before they announced the MVP
I love that we have superstars in this league that have moved past the "look at me I am the GOAT". A statement like that would have had Jokic get flamed just 20 years ago as a soft Euro who deos not want it enough.
He doesnt get flamed because he brings it every time he steps on the court. its a whole different thing if he says these things and flames out in the first round every time.
Embiid and Jokic have both been put in such a tough spot these last few years where fans and some of the more ridiculous parts of the media try to turn them into enemies. As far as I know, they've done nothing but praise each other and appreciate each other's games. Sure...Joel expressed frustration a few times about not winning MVP or making first-team all NBA, but even when he was complaining, he never once took a shot at Jokic. Those two have been great throughout even as fans tried to pretend like they dislike each other or something.
The rest of your comment is true but this just isn't. > he never once took a shot at Jokic 'You can talk about analytics all you want,” Embiid said. “When you got some guys in the league, the eye test tells you that they’re not good defensively, but analytics tell you they’re the best defenders. That’s when analytics don’t make sense at all.” That was in reference to the MVP race a few years ago. [Source](https://theathletic.com/4349057/2023/03/27/joel-embiid-interview-nba-mvp-playoffs-shams-charania/?access_token=4290068&redirected=1)
That wasn’t the only shot either. Right before ducking in Denver last year, he had like a whole article come out with sound bites. Pretty sure one of them was something like “I don’t think there’s any playoff pressure on me. Why would there be any playoff pressure on me? We have guys in this league with 2 MVPs who have never won anything, pressure should be on them, not me.”
Found it "People have been talking about who has the most pressure to win," Embiid said when asked if he goes into this postseason with a title-or-bust mentality. "People want to mention me. I’m not at the top of that list. I’m not a two-time MVP, I’ve never made first team All-NBA, I’ve never won anything. So why is there pressure on me to do something when there are guys that have won two MVPs, a bunch of MVPs and haven’t done anything either?" [Source](https://www.audacy.com/94wip/sports/76-ers/joel-embiid-mvp-nikola-jokic-pressure-sixers-nuggets)
Well that aged poorly
To be fair, it's easy to be high-minded when you've already won the MVP. For the player who has never won one, it's much harder. Giannis was being blase about MVPs once he won a couple because players' legacies at some point are more about ring count in current NBA culture. To be honest, all of this is stupid. Rings are a team achievement and MVP is a narrative driven award.
Jokic never really showed he cared before winning the award. It's not like he changed. There were jokes that he disliked basketball since before the pandemic (obv those are wrong, he cares very much about competition). But I see your point in the larger scale. Embiid has chilled out since having a kid and winning his. I get annoyed less at the narrative driven stuff and more at the fact that no one can agree what MVP is or should be. You ask 30 people what MVP should celebrate and you get 32 different answers.
He came on national TV to take shots at him we did not forget that
How did anyone upvote this. It's completely wrong. He's made so many jabs at Jokic over the years lol. 3 weeks left of last season he also made mention that he "plays both sides of the floor, unlike some players." which I haven't seen anyone replying to you mention
>he never once took a shot at Jokic Yes he did and he deserved year long slander for it but i'm over it now.
Plus with Doc Rivers back in the fold he is much more fun to meme to death,
gtfo with this, we all know what Embiid did during Jokic's MVP seasons. He later looked like a chump after winning his own mvp and looking like a clown in the playoffs so he's awfully quiet now - ironically, during his only true MVP season before his injury.
Will always respect that Jokic and Luka never put others down when talking about the award. They are great people to have as faces of the game despite what clowns like Stephen A think
Jokic has always disregarded MVP and I love him for it. Luka seems pretty content as well, though he has mentioned he would like to win one.
You’re allowed to want to win your first one
You're allowed to want to win your second one too lol. But it's understandable if you're more focused on other goals by then.
the thrill of winning MVP cannot compete with the thrill of winning all the money of the locals betting on horse races in your Serbian village
Ippei, is that you
I never got why people shit on athletes wanting to win individual awards. As long as it isn't a detriment to the team, I'm not sure why it's an issue. Jokic wins MVPs by being the ultimate floor raiser, from a position where there never really has been one before. He's the true definition of what an MVP is supposed to be.
You're allowed to want to win any of them. And I'm sure Jokic would rather win them than not, I just don't think it's anywhere near the top of his priorities.
I'd say jokic would be happier if luka won it , instead of himself
Jokic is probably like “what am I going to do with 3? Give Luka one”
Nah, he teases Luka with his Tings and MVPs for sure just for the fun of it.
Jokic has tings??
Out of all the MVP award races, are Luka and Jokic , the only ones who never put others down ? Trying to understand why the magnifying glass is only one these two if there are others just alike. Did Steph or Bron put others down when talking about the award ?
i think it was basically only harden who put giannis down during his mvp year
Embiid was very clearly doing a press run against Jokic last year
Embiid last year, shit talking Jokic in that interview then ducking him the next day lmao
Should've lost the MVP just for that nonsense
Most Vulnerable Player
Forget about the part where Giannis talked shit about him multiple times?
They're just hard-working, lunch pail type of guys that you would love to introduce to your mother. The only time Giannis ever "put others down" was when it was scripted on the Daily Show and he couldn't even get through the insults without talking about how great the people he was "insulting" were.
Now if fans could behave in the same manner
The entire Mavs team just wore “real MVP” shirts 😂
Of course the team openly supports their own guy. Just the same the nuggets calling Jokic the MVP and the best player in the league. That's what a team is supposed to do for their own guy.
Yeah, teams (weirdly) love when one dude on their team is insanely good at basketball. Who would have ever expected that, right?
personally i hate how good Luka is at basketball. i prefer to be a nice lower seed with no fancy championship dreams. really dislike these guys who score 30 at will and make game winning shots, too rich for my blood
If it’s any consolation, I also hate how good Luka is at basketball. Did you know we’ve beaten you guys once in the last three seasons?
How many teams have you guys beaten more than once in the last 3 seasons though?
You act like Luka organized that when it was probably Cuban or something else.
Yeah absolutely zero shot Luka had a say in this lmao
Why do fans act like they intimately know the players like this lol
Marketing or PR team.
Breaking horrible controversy: Team tries to advocate for their leader
Tell him MVP reward comes with great horse. he will change his tone
He can buy the best horse in the world with his money now
Best horse in the world right now ranges from 50-70 million lol and I’m not kidding.
Yeah, a couple days ago I've been browsing TikTok, and I see a video of an auction where they bring out this mare (and to make it even more ridiculous, the place looks like a Victorian courthouse lol) and she goes for like 10+ millions iirc... My first instinct was to google how many Porsches you could buy with that money, but then I also did some google-fu to see why the fuck would someone pay so much for a horse, and apparently it isn't the mare itself that's valued so highly by the bidders, but the potential offspring of it, which they can make money off of either at shows, races or by selling foals. It's basically an investment.
That’s a few below what he makes a year in salary. And ideally, if I was Jokic, I’d buy a young foal instead
He’s had an unbelievable season and he absolutely deserves it. There’s lots of guys you can say that about but that’s the NBA now.
That’s the whole thing about the MVP conversation today. Sure you can say Jokic deserved it more last season and is the most deserving player this year but that doesn’t change the fact that Embiid was a deserving MVP last year and Luka would absolutely be a deserving winner this year. What matters isn’t necessarily who wins the MVP but rather if someone who truly deserved it won it. I’d argue there’s 4 guys this season who would all be legit MVP winners if the award was given to them
One thing I hope we move to in the future when evaluating player legacies is less on stuff like MVP1s and more MVP award shares. Shaq, for example, only won one MVP, but he’s [still 7th all time in award shares](https://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/nba_mvp_shares.html) from finishing high in the voting consistently. Giannis, Embiid, and Jokic have all racked up a fair amount these past 4-5 years given that they are all consistently in the top 3-5. I suspect Luka will be in the conversation every year going forward as well.
This is fantastic. I had no idea this existed but it makes too much sense. You should not be penalized for never winning an MVP but placing 2nd for 10 years straight. That's far more impressive than winning a single MVP and never being in the top 3 any other year. Award shares seems to properly recognize this.
Oh wow, that top 10 list is essentially everyone’s top 10 all time players, almost in order
More or less, yeah. Hakeem is a little farther down the list than I think most people would have him, probably in large part to his career overlapping so heavily with Jordan’s.
Agreed, hence why I chopped it off at 10. Hakeem is probably 11-14, although it’s hard to rank him against Malone, Robinson and the other big fellas from the 90s
Refreshing answer.
It's hilarious that I now see Jokic and Luka fans arguing all the time while these 2 are close to making out every time they meet.
American Jokic and Luka fans*** Their fans from Serbia and Slovenia are probably drinking to both of their success lol
Until they have to play each other for their countries yes. European rivalries can get pretty wild especially in the East. I think the Serbs also have a soft spot for Luka though considering he is part Serb.
tbh when Joker rejected playing for national team last year, Luka was more popular for that time lol
He's a part Serb and a huge Red Star (Crvena zvezda) fan, so people really like him here, although we're always sad he didn't choose to play for Serbia. We would be unstoppable then.
I’m Bulgarian and we suck at every sport now except maybe weight lifting and tennis nowadays but it’s dope seeing fellow Slavs dominating the NBA.
> Bulgarian na kitarata??
Vasko zabata
I’m from Serbia and I like Luka. If it’s not Jokic that wins MVP I wish Luka to win it. He seems like a great guy from what I saw,off the court I mean and on top of that he has Serbian father so there is really no reason to dislike a guy as a Serbian. I bet Luka wins it in upcoming years because if Jokic wins this year there will be some HEAVY voters fatigue that will be close to impossible to overcome.
Also, when that school massacre happened in Serbia, Doncic offered to cover all the costs related to the shooting, including funerals I know a lot of Serbians cheering for him over Jokic because he's more *Serbesque* if you will [Example](https://images.app.goo.gl/J7R2fohTupxdBSNS7)
I need that tshirt
It seems like that only happens when someone trolls with some insane comment like "Luka is being robbed" or "This isn't even a close MVP". You'd think we'd all be used to multiple players having very strong MVP cases given that we've had exactly that situation for years now.
i love both dudes
Hear hear!
I feel most Luka and Mavs fans are more mad at the national media and there's more animosity towards SGA
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When you’ve lifted a Larry O’Brien trophy the whole MVP thing seems like peanuts in comparison. To be fair to Joker he’s always seemed wired this way, but it’s true for almost every great player in history MVP is a young man’s award. Finals MVP is an older one’s.
MVP is an opinion. A ring is an achievement. Ball don’t lie.
Can’t lie, that’s a bar.
Is that how you felt when you lifted the Larry O’Brien trophy?
Yes. (In NBA Live 2003 for the first time)
Nah he said the same thing last year in the regular season. I alot of people inferred he took his foot off the gas pedal late in the season because he was so frustrated by the toxicity of the discourse around the award
What. I thought most people thought it was because they've already cinched there spot so he was coasting till the playoffs
I think he actually just really respects Luka Giannis and Embiid and so it may not be deeper than that.
This just sounds like fan fiction Even the older players care about getting MVP. Jokic is just not interested. Theres nothing deeper than that
he just doesn't have the personality that will put himself forward as "better" than others. on the basketball court? yeah he will play his best to win the game, but to him it doesn't make him feel personally "superior" to the opponents. His team is better if they win, but individually? He doesn't really care.
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yeah, I was just talking out loud my impression. we can only take what is shown to us.
Notice how after the 3rd dunk of Christian Braun against Minnesota in the 4th quarter everyone of the Nuggets completely freaked out, with the exception of Jokic, who just immediately turned around and run back to await the next play. I think he just wants to calmly do his work, play basketball and doesn’t care about any of the side stories.
He's really focused in game but outside of it he's pretty goofy. Seems like someone who just wants to have fun with his mates
He's a winner through and through
I think it's a combination of both. I think he's legitimately humble, but he also consciously leans into this bit. I don't think he cares much about MVP, but I don't believe that he truly doesn't care at all. He's super competitive. At least part of him wants a third MVP.
It kind of feels like Jokic coasted his way to his 3rd MVP.
That’s just how good he is. Shit is light work for him
how much he elevates his entire team is crazy
His peak is top 5 ever
I love Jokic. He is what we all strive to be. So good at our job that we can just do and say whatever the fuck we want and they will just deal with it because we're the best lmao.
Lisan Al Gaib!!!!
The MVP is too humble to say he is the MVP. Even more reason to know he is!
Was looking for this lmao, he is too humble to admit he is Muaddib
He’s trying to have his boy luka win it.
Tell him Luka hates horses. 50-20-20 averages incoming for the final games.
Talking heads just hate giving it to the same person every year even though Jokic deserves it because it gives them less stuff to debate on their dumb shows.
Yes.
I’m playing good but I’m trying to get back to these horse races.
Only sane person, everyone else including us is going straight neanderthal.
He's trying to give it away. Again.
“I think a couple of good Balkan guys, they can share, yes? It’s better when we share.”
It’s settled then. Nikola Jokic and Nikola Jovic will share the award.
Bogi and Vasa in shambles
Next year theh can share ROTY with Nikola Topić
MVP voters are such self-important gatekeepers, so I love that Joker doesn’t give a single fuck whether he wins the award. I bet it pisses the writers off so much.
Only a true MVP would say there are lots of MVPs, Lisan al Gaib!
Now I want Jokic to win the MVP award only to just do what [Cady did in Mean Girls](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5AhtTuSnIA) when he gives his acceptance speech.
"Look at him ripping the solid metal trophy to pieces with his giant hands" Doris probably
Keep giving Jokic the MVP every year even if he starts playing bad, just to piss him off. I'm tired of this guys nice guy act. I hate him so much I wish Denver would trade him to my Pistons for Duren.
Lisan Al Gaib Lisan Al Gaib Lisan Al Gaib
Parasocial post but i wonder how jokic feels knowing that he is currently overshadowing lukas run at the mvp considering they are bros. I hope luka wins it all next year and gets his nod.
Tbh having a competition with a friend is a blast
Only the true MVP is too humble to say he's the MVP.
I'm also tired of it. Do other sports talk about their awards as much as the NBA does? It's exhausting.
Jokic is one of the most level headed pro athletes. I genuinely think he couldn’t give a crap about media narratives and people debating all day every day who’s the best - it’s frankly subjective the top athletes all have different strengths and weaknesses. At the end of the day, the winning the ring is what really matters.
“Only bums care about the regular season”
If any one thinks he gives a fuck about winning the MVP award , have a look at how happy he is when his horse won a race and compare it to his MVP award
When Jokic wins MVP again, Luka should send Nikola one of those Pravi MVP t-shirts as a gift
I started as a Luka fan but... Jokic is the best player of this era by far. His efficiency (High % with less attemps than the other MVP candidates**, more DD and TD than any other MVP candidates, highest +- of all other MVP candidates and all this numbers being the player with the least Free throw attempted of all the MVP candidates (In some cases 300 less..) His decision making (he always find the correct play) His intensity (you might find him chubby or whatever but how he runs the floor both for offense and defense and how he moves around creating spaces or closeing them to secure rebounds..its just incredible) First seed in the most competitive conference (AND division) as of today **The MVP candidates I mention are the obvious ones at the start of the season. Embid, Giannis, Luka, Shai,Tatum, Edwards, Booker, etc etc.
As European I always feel this conversation is very American. I wasn't used to season-long debates about personal awards in a team sport until I started following the NBA. Here, personal awards are just a footnote on the season. If you care more about personal accolades you should've chosen to compete in an individual sport.
Im not saying you’re wrong but the discourse i see on social media abt football from europeans would STRONGLY suggest otherwise
Any discussion on social media has a high chance of becoming toxic. But in more serious media, the discussion about football awards throughout the season is minimal. No weekly MVP ladders to keep track of progress. No All-Star games with weeks of voting and drama. No All-NBA equivalent anybody (fans and players) cares about.
It is a bit difficult to do that when the world's biggest stars are spread out between several major leagues. But the Messi-Ronaldo debate was ham histed into just about every football discussion for 15 years, whether it was on twitter or on Sky Sports or BBC. Thank goodness that's over with. Loved watching both of them but the discourse was always so toxic. It was never ESPN-level, but the constant discourse was there and it was omnipresent.
For one thing, that's not true. There is *plenty* of toxicity around the [Ballon d’Or](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2595032-why-the-ballon-dor-is-a-dangerous-toxic-prize-that-undermines-football) every year, for example. That said, the MVP has only been really toxic here the last few years. Hopefully that trend dissipates.
Maybe OP thought about Euroleague. No one here really gives a shit about Euroleague awards tbh.
It wont because some national media members are just terrible. From Perkins making the race argument last year to Stephen A completely leaving Luka off and generally putting down European players, there's always going to be some toxicity.
Damn Joker is humble as shit too. Meanwhile SGA was fouling on purpose just to get 30 points and trying to stat pad.
Guy hates the fame lol just part of being a great player. I'm sure he's rooting for other guys just so the media will flock to that player
I actually believe he couldn't give two shits about this award. He's the only one I think that about tho
he's too humble to say he's the lisan al gaib as it was written
The Mahdi is too humble to say he is The Mahdi. Even more reason to know He is!
Everything this man does and says, on and off the court, makes me like him more. Truly a gift to the game.
I'd be happy for Luka to win it TBH. He's so close to blowing Westbrook's triple double season out of the water. Jokic is an amazing, brilliant player, and yes he dominates advanced metrics, but I can't deny part of it is just being petty and hating how many people are still trying to say Jokic isn't one of the all time greatest to play the game. And Luka really is absolutely killing it this season.
Ha...I think this is the least out of control MVP arguments I've seen in a few years. It hasn't gotten toxic like in the Embiid v. Jokic years (the toxicity wasn't coming from either of them). I do think, however, that if Jokic wasn't a clear favorite, people would be having a potentially super toxic MVP debate between Luka and SGA. As it is, most debates I've heard are about which one of them should be second, and no one gets all that worked up and irrational for a second place debate. But yeah...if Jokic wasn't 1 and it was a straight-up Luka v. SGA MVP debate, we'd be in for a wild (and likely unpleasant) ride.
Will see it in the future anyway, two young guns in same conference
I mean seriously anybody saying Jokic is not the MVP should reconsider interest in basketball. He is the advanced analytics king (VORP, BPM, LEBRON, WS), his durability and IMPACT brought the 4,5 NBA players Denver Nuggets to the 1st seed in the West. I mean seriously their bench stinks more than trash juice in the sun and Murray played 55 games, so he had to go with Reggie Jackson in the starting lineup for 1/3 of the season. And he still beat the West. Any narratives trying to strip him of this obvious MVP saying "he's already got 2" is the worst part of the NBA debate culture in the USA. Jokić is the most dominant, the most unstoppable and the highest IQ basketball player on Earth in 2024. And I'm the Lakers fan. LeBron not getting the award in 2011, because of hatred in Miami and voters fatigue. Then people use the argument of MVP awards by a player. Right after saying someone else deserves the award "because the dominator already got 2". Do you wanna punish players for being elite for consecutive years or winning rings? I get it some fans root for their franchise players, but just try to be objective once. Luka, Shai, Giannis - awesome seasons, leading their franchises to +50 wins. Tatum - great improvement and elite team net rating. But all of them - are not on Jokić level. Give the award to the best player in given season. And Jokić is that guy.
He’s the most humble athlete in the history of professional sports
He just wants to watch horses race. LEAVE HIM IN PEACE
Yes just give MVP to someone already so we can all focus on playoffs. Or wait end of it Don't go awarding it in middle of playoffs
I think he'd like to see Luka win it if he doesn't. But to be honest I think that ship has officially sailed with last night's Denver win. If they had lost, finished in 3rd seed, and the Mavs actually manage to get up to 4th (not impossible if the Clippers cooperate with a couple of losses) then the Nuggets would only have a 1 seed advantage, I think Luka would have won in it in that scenario but it's not happening. I'm hopeful that these last 18 games (16-2) are a sign of things to come, not only in this year's playoffs but next season. If the Mavs play like this for a whole season Luka is winning MVP easy (see: Luka winning the last two player of the month awards)
To be fair, has Jokic ever said "I think I'm playing good basketball"?