On Wednesday, it was revealed that Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic won the 2023-24 NBA MVP Award . Jokic had a great season en route to winning the third MVP of his career. Shaquille O’Neal, though, felt that Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander should have won the MVP.
In fact, Shaq even told Jokic his opinion on the matter while the Nuggets star was being interviewed on TNT’s Inside the NBA, via ClutchPoints.
“I want you to hear from me first, but I think that SGA (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) should have been the MVP,” Shaq told Jokic. “No disrespect to you.”
Before interviewing Jokic, Shaq made it clear that he felt Gilgeous-Alexander should have won the award. His comments to Jokic may frustrate Nuggets fans, but at least he did not try to avoid the subject after his previous comments.
“I felt Shai deserved it,” Shaq said after the initial announcement. “I’ve been number two a lot, and I played my a** off number two so the fact that he has to start all over next year and try to win it again… I know this is going to be hurtful for him, hopefully he uses this to motivate him and win a championship.
“But I thought, and again no disrespect to the Joker (Nikola Jokic), best big man in the league by far… I thought Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was going to win it by far. But congratulations to the Joker, I’m happy for him.”
Nikola Jokic wins his third MVP
Shaq may not have thought Jokic should have won, but there is no question that the Nuggets star enjoyed a tremendous campaign. He was initially selected as a finalist alongside Gilgeous-Alexander and Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic. Gilgeous-Alexander ultimately finished second in voting while Luka ended up in the third position.
Jokic, 29, already has three MVP awards now for his career. He is unquestionably on a Hall of Fame path.
In 2023-24, Jokic recorded 26.4 points per game on 58.3 percent field goal and 35.9 percent three-point shooting. He also recorded 12.4 rebounds and 9.0 assists per outing.
The Nuggets technically finished as the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference behind the Thunder. Denver and Oklahoma City finished the regular season with the exact same record, however. The Thunder earned the No. 1 seed because of a tiebreaker.
Regardless, Jokic led the Nuggets to another stellar all-around campaign. Denver has developed a winning team that often produces impressive results. Jokic’s teammates perform at a higher level when he is on the floor. He is a big man who is more than capable of getting everyone involved.
In all reality, each of the finalists had strong cases to win the award. Gilgeous-Alexander and Doncic both performed at elite levels throughout the 2023-24 campaign. It would not have been surprising to see either star end up winning the award.
The voters clearly felt that Nikola Jokic was deserving of winning the NBA MVP for the third time, however.
Do you think Jokic was the MVP, or should Gilgeous-Alexander or Doncic have won the award?
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