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Anthony Edwards Makes Controversial MVP Statement About Nuggets' Nikola Jokić

Originally posted on Athlon Sports
By Nathaniel Holloway | Last updated Jan 2, 2025 9:00 AM ET

With the NBA season approaching the halfway point, there are two players who have separated themselves from the rest and have become the frontrunners to win the MVP award. Those two players are Nikola Jokić of the Denver Nuggets and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

This MVP race is reminiscent of last season’s that featured the same two players with Jokić capturing his third MVP award at the end of the season. This season, Jokić is currently the frontrunner for the MVP award, but Shai is right on his heels.

While Jokić has had a dominant season, Minnesota Timberwolves’ star guard, Anthony Edwards, instead believes that Shai should win MVP this season, which he said in a recent interview with ESPN.

“I don't know if they could give it to (Jokić) again,” Edwards said. “Yeah, I would say Shai. Yeah, he's looking like the MVP, man. He was incredible once again tonight. He's consistent every night. His team gonna give him the ball and just let him rock out every night. It's nothing to think about. 'Hey, get Shai the ball and he going to get busy, and then we're going to figure it out after that.' I love watching that. It's incredible, man. If he is keeping him like that, I hope they give (MVP) to him this year for sure. I feel like he should have won it last year, but he's playing out his mind right now.”

Edward’s comments went viral on Wednesday, not only for picking Shai over Jokić for MVP this season, but also saying that he believes Shai should have won the award over Jokić last season as well.

While Shai is having a great season, Jokić is arguably putting together the best season of his career. He is averaging 30.7 points, 13.0 rebounds and 9.7 assists while shooting 56.1% from the field and 49.2% from three.

While Jokić has had an outstanding season, he will have to continue to produce down the stretch if he wants to win his fourth MVP award as the race between him and Shai may come down to the final games of the season.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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