“They’d Be a Lottery Team”: Austin Rivers Highlights Nikola Jokic’s Impact Whilst Making Case for 4th MVP Over SGA

Nikola Jokic has already won three MVPs in the last four years, proving time and again that he is the best all-around player in the league. The Nuggets superstar continues to dominate, averaging a triple-double this season while leading his team to one of the best records in the NBA. By the numbers and the impact he has made on the team, he deserves his fourth MVP.

But the conversation isn’t that simple. Despite another stellar season, Jokic is not being considered the front-runner for the honor. The award, by popular choice, seems to be going Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s way. On a recent episode of Off Guard with Austin Rivers, the former NBA star expressed his frustration with the voter fatigue taking over this year’s MVP race.

He said, “I don’t like when awards are given to people due to voter’s fatigue or due to somebody’s won too much. They did it with Jordan, they did it with Kobe…they did it with LeBron.” While Rivers understands Jokic isn’t the typical ambassador for the game and he’s not from the US, diminishing his impact on the league isn’t sitting well with him.

Rivers said, “He is the most valuable player to his team. If Nikola was not on the Nuggets, they’d be a lottery team playing for Cooper.” The former Nuggets star believes that if SGA didn’t play for the OKC, they’d still be in the competition. With 28.9 points, 13 rebounds, and 10.5 assists per game while shooting nearly 58% from the field and 43% from the distance, Jokic has made a strong case for himself.

However, several notable members of the media are leaning towards SGA, who is averaging 32.8 points, 6.2 assists, and 5.1 rebounds. They’ve been on record stating that SGA should win MVP this year with the main argument being just how far ahead OKC is in terms of their record and Shai simply being the best player on the best team in the league.

Stephen A. Smith and Kendrick Perkins want SGA to win MVP this year

Stephen A. Smith has been rooting for SGA for a while. He was one of the people in his corner last year when the Thunder star was challenging for the MVP title. This year, with an even stronger case, SAS is once again backing the 26-year-old.

On ESPN’s NBA Countdown show, he said, “SGA is going to win the MVP, I don’t care what Jokic does.” There’s no denying that SGA is having a brilliant season. However, Jokic’s numbers are simply out of this world. He recently became the first player in NBA history to record a 30/20/20 game.

Despite the numbers, Perkins isn’t willing to give the nod to Jokic. On ESPN, he vouched for SGA to be the MVP this season as well as the next face of the league. Perkins said, “When we talk about the MVP conversation, yes he’s my front-runner, let’s take it a step further. We’ve been wondering who LeBron James and Steph Curry are going to pass the torch to as the next face of the NBA; I think SGA wants to wear it right now.”

As strong as the wave is for SGA to be the next MVP, Jokic is right there with him in terms of numbers. But voter fatigue is a real thing and in the past, we have seen great players becoming victims of that.