To many, the 2023-24 NBA Most Valuable Award debate is down to only three games: Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets, Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Former NBA sharpshooter JJ Redick acknowledges each of those players’ MVP cases in a recent episode of his The Old Man & The Three podcast and revealed that Jokic is his pick to win the Michael Jordan Trophy.
JJ Redick Believes Nikola Jokic Should be 2023-24 NBA MVP
There is no denying how great Jokic has played this season for the Nuggets, but others will still argue that Gilgeous-Alexander or Doncic is more deserving to win the prestigious individual award. To be fair to Redick, he did say that it was not an easy call for him, given how close the race is in his eyes. He also ranked his top five MVP candidates this season, with Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics and Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks making his cut.
“MVP for me, again, it came down to three guys. It came down to Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Ultimately, I gave by the slightest of margins. I gave my vote to Nicole Jokic for MVP. Luca Doncic in second,Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in third. I had Jason Tatum fourth in MVP and Jalen Brunson fifth in MVP. Giannis was the other guy I gave consideration to just outside the top five. And again, I think, particularly with Shai, Jokic and Luka, similar to last year, where I had a vote, there’s three guys that are deserving MVPs.”
Redick then gave an insight into his thought process in coming up with his MVP pick.
In terms of the why, again, I’m factoring in a ton of stuff. I think Jokic was the best basketball player in the NBA this season. I think Luka was the second best basketball player in the NBA this season. You certainly have to factor in the amount of injuries that the Dallas Mavericks have, the trades mid-season, trying to integrate a rookie center, and I get all of that. And it’s probably why I weighed him slightly ahead of Shai, who led by on-court play, the second youngest team in the NBA to the first place in the Western Conference. Shai’s deserving, Luka’s deserving, Jokic is deserving. I think Denver ended up approaching this regular season, particularly after the all-star break with a level of seriousness and professionalism, and he was the driving force behind that. 57 wins for them, tied with OKC for the best record in the Western Conference. Of course, OKC gets the head-to-head nod, tiebreaker. But yeah, that’s it.
For what it’s worth, Jokic is ahead of Gilgeous-Alexander and Doncic this season in the following advanced metrics: Offensive Win Shares, Defensive Win Shares, Win Shares, Box Plus/Minus, and Value Over Replacement Player.
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