Former Celtics Guard Refuses to Crown Nikola Jokic MVP Over Lack of Dunks

Sebastian Telfair hasn’t stepped foot on an NBA court in over a decade, but the former high-flying guard still had no problem weighing in on this year’s MVP race. The 39-year-old clearly sided with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the debate, but his reasoning for downplaying Nikola Jokic’s incredible season was interesting to say the least.

Telfair claimed the Serbian superstar simply wasn’t dominant enough to be named MVP this season—not because of his lack of points, rebounds, assists or wins but because of his lack of dunks. Jokic has never really been known to score with a slam, but Telfair seems to believe that tendency is vital for an MVP candidate.

“Nikola Jokic doesn’t get called ‘dominant’ because he’s not dunking on people. If he was dunking on people at least two times a game, it would be clear he’s one of the most dominant players ever,” Telfair insisted. Outside of his one argument, though, the 10-year veteran praised Joker’s game, expressing how surprising it is to see someone win it over him.

Sebastian’s vote lies with SGA, though, because he believes the Canadian is dominating on another level this season. “You gotta give it to Shai. I wanna give it to Shai, he hasn’t gotten [an MVP] yet. You can tell he put his mind to build [to get to this MVP level]. He didn’t have the three-point shot last year. He came back, now, he’s looking like Steve Kerr out there.”

Telfair acknowledged how tough a choice this year’s MVP is but stuck to his decision. Meanwhile, Paul Pierce had a different approach to this season’s hotly-contested MVP race.

Paul Pierce suggested a new MVP format

Paul Pierce is incredibly torn over who should win MVP. Comparing two vastly different talents in Jokic and SGA is a tough task to accomplish, so the Hall of Fame forward proposed a bold solution to the two-horse race.

“No, no, no. [SGA has the] best record in the league and led the league in scoring. That’s hard. That doesn’t happen. I think, maybe LeBron, I know Jordan did it many times,” Pierce said of the Thunder superstar. “Then you look on the other side, this is historic. [Jokic] is top three in three major statistical categories.”

“I’ve never seen that in all my years of watching basketball, or ever even heard of it. As a matter of fact, it’s never happened. So how do you tell a guy who’s doing this much that he’s not the MVP?” the Celtics legend questioned. “I put a bid into say, ‘Hey, they should come up with a co-MVP.’ Man, they can do whatever they want. They had a co-Rookie of the Year before.”

While it’s unlikely the NBA would consider Pierce’s solution, it would be a quick fix to a race that has mostly been between two players all season long.