Nikola Jokic still pacing MVP race, would join elite list with a win

Every player who has won an NBA MVP and is no longer active has gone on to make it to the Basketball Hall of Fame, but the list Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic can join in the next two months is an even more hallowed hall.

There have only been eight players in NBA history to win three or more MVP awards and this group is chock-full of the game’s greatest players of all time. Those names are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, LeBron James, Moses Malone, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Each of these players has also captured a Finals MVP and title, except for Russell, whose career predates the Bill Russell Finals MVP award so he himself is the one for whom it is named as he carried Boston to 11 championships.

According to NBA.com’s latest MVP Ladder, Jokic is still leading this year’s field for top player honors. Meaning his name is about to be entered next to those legends’ names for eternity. Jokic stayed atop the pack this week by leading the Nuggets to a 2-1 record as part of the team’s 7-1 stretch coming out of the break. Jokic notched double-doubles in each of the games, securing a triple-double in Denver’s big win over the NBA-leading Celtics. His game-winning pass against Boston and crunch-time efforts against the Lakers stick out as more moments to cap his campaign for the trophy.

On the season, Jokic has 51 double-doubles, 20 of which have been triple-doubles. He’s up to averaging 26 points, 12.3 rebounds and 9.2 assists per game.

Since the break, Jokic has furthered himself as the favorite to win this year’s MVP, improving his odds from -140 three weeks ago to -170 as of Friday morning. That means Jokic’s implied odds of winning the trophy for a third time are 63%. Basketball Reference’s MVP Award Tracker, which ranks candidates based on a model built using previous voting results isn’t quite as high, giving Jokic a 48% chance to win the award.

But Jokic isn’t alone in crusade to become the exclusive ninth-name on the list of three-time MVPs, Giannis Antetokounmpo is still in the conversation polling third on the ladder and on Basketball Reference’s list but fourth according to bookmakers. Jokic’s real competition this year is Northwest Division rival Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The leader of the young and surging Thunder, SGA, was second in ESPN’s last straw poll and he’s kept playing strong, scoring over 30 points on Wednesday for the 46th time this season. That’s one game shy of the mark Kevin Durant twice set while playing in OKC. On the year, SGA is up to 31.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game. The Thunder take on the Heat on Friday, which should be a telling game. Denver will travel to Miami next week for a second rematch of last year’s NBA Finals.

Now past the 60-game mark, the MVP race is getting very real and Jokic’s play seems to only be getting better since the All-Star Break. And given the names of people who have accomplished the three-time MVP feat before, Jokic is on the verge of becoming a top-10 player of all-time.