Nikola Jokic is the best player in the league. The stats and the polls say so. If you had to draft a new team each year to play 82 games and four rounds of playoffs, who would you pick first? It’s Jokic. The second pick could be Giannis; it could be Shai. But we all know who goes first, and that’s the 2025 MVP: Nikola Jokic.

The list of players who have finished top 3 in points, rebounds, and assists in a single season is short. It’s so short, in fact, that it doesn’t exist. As of now, Nikola Jokic will be the first player in NBA history to accomplish this feat. SGA voters will point out that Shai is having a historic season for a guard—Jokic is having one of the most historic seasons we’ve ever seen, period.

No one in the league makes his team better than Nikola Jokic. When on the court, the Nuggets project to win about 45 more games than when Jokic sits—a league best number. According to Cleaning the Glass, they would win 19 games without him in the lineup. The Thunder, meanwhile, would win 57 without Shai, enough to secure them the second seed in the west. Jokic has an on/off point differential of more than 18 points per 100 possessions, while SGA’s is 12. Plus, Jokic leads SGA in almost every single box score stat despite having much less help.

Nikola Jokic plays the game the right way. He’s fourth in the league in Assist Percentage, assisting on 40% of the buckets the Nuggets score per game (Shai is 36th, assisting on 29%). He puts up elite scoring and efficiency numbers without foul hunting. Only 17% of his points come from free throws, compared to 24% for Shai, who leads the league in drives, and is second in the league in FTA. This is a team sport, and the MVP should be the guy who gets his teammates involved in the game.