“Nikola Jokic has had to carry a team, just like LeBron James does”: Alex English compares Nuggets case for MVP to Herculean efforts from the Lakers superstar

Alex English says that Nikola Jokic can be the NBA MVP because he’s had to carry a team just as LeBron James has had to in past years. 

The 2021 NBA MVP race will most definitely come down to the wire as there are multiple candidates in the conversation to snag this honor. Whether it’s Damian Lillard carrying an injury-riddled Portland TrailBlazers team to a top 6 seed or James Harden keeping the Brooklyn Nets neck and neck with the Philadelphia 76ers, it’s anyone’s award at this point. 

With injuries to 3 MVP candidates in Kevin Durant, LeBron James, and Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic has emerged as the favorite for many. Due to the fact that these injured superstars have missed a significant amount of time, their case for MVP weakens as availability is a major factor in deciding these awards. 

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Nikola Jokic on the other hand, has been having himself an ‘Iron-man’ season as he has suited up for 47 games this season. He’s averaging an absurd 27 points, 11 rebounds and 8.5 assists per game. Not to mention that he has the Nuggets at 5th in the loaded West. 

Alex English says Nikola Jokic is the NBA’s MVP this season

Former Denver Nugget legend Alex English, seems to have seen enough from Nikola Jokic to crown him with the MVP. He took to the Denver Post to lay out his case for Jokic’s 2020-21 potential MVP season. 

“I think Jokic has got a serious case. If they seriously look at him, the record’s been good, there have been times where he’s had to carry the team like LeBron James would’ve done, back in the day.”

“Jokic is the MVP. Joel Embiid, you could say had a good year. I don’t think he’s had the impact on his team that Joker has with the Denver Nuggets.” 

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In all fairness, this Denver Nuggets team is more loaded than any of LeBron’s early Cavs teams but even when the ‘King’ was on great teams, he would have to pick up his teammates’ slack at times. Jokic has been doing the same.

He is the focal point of the Nuggets offense as everything runs through him either from beyond the arc or down low in the post. He has also gotten better at posting up from either wing. 

His numbers speak for themselves as he fills the stat sheets on a nightly basis. If screen assists were a stat, we would be filling that area of the box score as well. With a multitude of injuries to MVP frontrunners, Jokic does have a significant chance to claim 2021 MVP for his own, barring the Nuggets don’t fall into the play-in.