Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard still believes that Joel Embiid deserved to win the 2022-23 MVP award, but that doesn't mean he's better than Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic.
Lillard clarified as much in a recent Instagram Live session, during which he went as far as to saying that Jokic “might be the best player in the league” today. The Blazers guard heaped a ton of praise on the Joker, especially after he propelled Denver to the NBA Finals.
Dame highlighted just how consistent Jokic is in every game. While he might not be the most athletic big man out there, he makes his impact on a variety of ways. Whether it's scoring, passing or rebounding, he does them all in an efficient way.
“Joker might be the best player in the League. The best player don't always win MVP. I thought Embiid should've won MVP this year, but that boy Joker might be the best player in the league,” Lillard explained, per reporter Landon Buford.
“He's one of them players that get an organic triple-double. Joker play the game the same way every game. He'll score 45, get 25 rebounds, sometimes he'll have 18 assists then he might do all of it in the same game — 45, 22, and 14. … And he don't miss shots.”
Nikola Jokic has certainly proven himself to be the best and most impactful player in the NBA today. However, for Nuggets fans, it's definitely still hard to overlook the fact that he was snubbed for the MVP honor. After all, not only did he power Denver to the top of the Western Conference, but he also undeniably had a better statistical year than any other MVP contender.
It's not like Jokic cares about the award, especially now that his focus is on winning the Larry O'Brien Trophy. Nonetheless, it would have been even better had he also won his third straight MVP.
As Damian Lillard hinted, though, there are a lot of other factors that go in deciding the MVP other than being the best player.
Follow Us
Subscribe