DENVER — Sorry debaters and hot-takers. Nikola Jokic has better things to worry about than the MVP race.
Personally, he’s got a young family he misses whenever the Nuggets hit the road. Professionally, he’s got an NBA championship to win. Both pursuits have lapped his interest, twice over, in discussing or even contemplating the MVP race.
“I don’t think about it anymore,” he said earlier this week as the team concluded a 10-day road trip in Washington. “It’s past.”
At one point during his first two MVP runs, it entered his frame of mind. But now, when the conversation has devolved and both he and the Nuggets are onto bigger and better things, Jokic doesn’t have time for it. (Don’t make the mistake of assuming the award doesn’t matter to him; just accept that, for him, the conversation isn’t worth indulging nor does he have anything to add.)
Some of the NBA’s MVP voters may be swayed this upcoming week, when Denver hosts Milwaukee and Giannis Antetokounmpo on Saturday or Philadelphia and Joel Embiid on Monday. When Embiid scored 47 points in their first matchup, it was an impossible touchstone to ignore.
And yet, with just nine games left in the regular season, and the Nuggets more concerned about holding off Memphis for the No. 1 seed, there’s a strong chance Jokic will attempt to dodge the conversation completely. And if he doesn’t, expect him to be extremely complimentary of both players. He always has been.
That’s the part that’s gotten to Nuggets coach Michael Malone. Though Jokic hasn’t explicitly told him he’s tired of the conversation, Malone has his assumptions.
“I can only imagine it’s hard not to be turned off by it,” he said.
When asked about the MVP race on Wednesday following Denver’s win over the Wizards, Malone alluded to a toxic, unhealthy tenor that’s consumed the debate.
“This year, compared to the last two years, I think this year, unfortunately, it’s taken a really ugly, nasty turn in the MVP conversation,” he said. “I think it’s really turned a lot of people off, including him.
“What’s happening now is, there’s so many guys that could win the MVP this year,” he said. “Great candidates. Joel Embiid is a great candidate. Luka Doncic is a great candidate. Jayson Tatum, whoever you want to put in that mix. Those are all deserving. But what happens in today’s society, it’s like when I was a college coach, all the negative recruiting. It’s not promoting my guy. It’s ripping down every other guy. And that’s just ridiculous.”
Of course, Malone will stump for his superstar when appropriate, but there won’t be any public nitpicking of Antetokounmpo’s 3-point shooting, or Embiid’s availability. Whether he intended to or not, Malone has followed Jokic’s lead.
“Celebrate them, don’t criticize, don’t tear them down,” he said. “Build them all up. And whoever wins it, good for them.”
Home cooking: Entering Saturday’s home game against Milwaukee, Denver’s run off a record of 30-6 at Ball Arena, among the best in the NBA. Saturday’s expected to be the 27th sellout of the season thus far. And according to the Nuggets, they’ve only got 185 full-season ticket packages left for next season.
