Michael Malone said it best: if you didn’t know that Jokic had already won 3 MVPs, there would be no debate about this year’s winner. Jokic is putting up historic numbers on a team that projects to win 19 games when he’s not in the lineup. Jokic is the best player in the league. He’s performing at the highest level in the league. He should be the MVP, but fans and NBA writers alike are falling into the same problem with voter fatigue that LeBron James experienced for much of his career.

We know this song and dance by now: we give the MVP to the fresh new face, and spend years complaining that an all-time great didn’t get their flowers. It happened to LeBron with Derrick Rose. It happened once already to Jokic, with Joel Embiid. Fans still debate the 06 MVP race almost 20 years later. There’s a simple solution: let’s pick the best player, and save ourselves years of pointless debate down the road.

More importantly, let’s not run away from the history staring us in the face. Some fans may worry about the historical implications of giving Jokic a 4th MVP, but those fans miss that Jokic himself is a historically great player.

Jokic is proving that he belongs in the highest echelon of superstars in the league’s history. Only Russell, Wilt, Kareem, MJ, and LeBron have won 4 or more MVPs. Each of these players were the best of their eras, and Jokic is the best of his. Jokic will be the only player to ever finish in the top 3 in points, rebounds, and assists in a single season. He will shatter the triple double record. He has 4 of the 5 highest BPM seasons ever, the highest PER ever, and is fourth all time in TS%. He deserves to be placed with the greats.

At a time when the league is supposed to be looking for its next big star, we should embrace the one we already have—an all time great player, putting up historic numbers, playing fun team basketball. Jokic is the beat player in the league, playing the best basketball in the league. He deserves another MVP.