The NBA's MVP Award has gotten more controversial over time. Just this year, Joel Embiid got eliminated from the race due to an injury that disallowed him from netting awards because missing the game threshold. This has confused some players in the league just like Jusuf Nurkic, who made his case as to why Phoenix Suns teammates Kevin Durant and Devin Booker should be in consideration, via Trevor Booth of ClutchPoints.

“I don’t know no more… These awards are becoming a ‘winning’ award. I think they should specifically just say, ‘This is what you need to be to be there… I don't know what winning does to these awards. What does MVP mean? Best player or best record and player?… It’s confusing,” Jusuf Nurkic said about the current state of the NBA MVP race.

Should Suns' Kevin Durant and Devin Booker be considered?

Suns' Kevin Durant smiling, with Devin Booker hyped up as Suicide Squad's Deadshot

The Suns' big man is alluding to how vague the award means. There has been debate about what ‘valuable' means to voters. No clear criteria have been set out regarding what type of players would be a quality pick for the award. However, Nurkic thinks that his Suns teammates, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, should be talked about more.

“KD, and LeBron, and all these players can be MVP every year. It's just what they are stat-wise and I don't know anybody who can disagree with numbers It's difficult for me to answer to answer that because as soon as you don't see KD, you'll be like, man. Book was in a stretch like the 60s, 50s, and 40s, and he's not even in the top 10. I mean like, what is the point of these top 10s?” he declared.

RECOMMENDED (Article Continues Below)
Former NBA player Kevin Garnett, Los Angeles Lakers player LeBron James, Minnesota Timberwolves player Anthony Edwards, Phoenix Suns player Kevin Durant, and former NBA player Paul Pierce

Preston Byers ·

Chris Finch in the center, Kevin Garnett on the left, Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert to his right.

Sheldon Wohlman ·

Karl-Anthony Towns front and center saying “I’m sacrificing” next to Naz Reid and Devin Booker.

Sheldon Wohlman ·

With the Suns, Durant has been able to record 28.4 points on average while also dropping 5.6 assists. These are all rounded out by his 6.4 rebounds to help in securing and closing out possessions. Booker, on the other hand, has adjusted fairly well to moving over to the primary playmaker role. He is averaging 7.1 assists while also still scoring 27.9 points on a nightly basis.

All of these are huge numbers for Nurkic and the Suns. However, they sit sixth in the Western Conference which could be a glaring red flag for NBA MVP some voters. Will they get the recognition down the stretch? Are Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilegous-Alexander going to be the only ones considered since Joel Embiid is out?