The Most Valuable Player should go to the most valued player in the league. Who is that if not Jokic? Go around the league today and ask all 30 GMs: if you had to pick one player to build your team around for a single 82-game season and playoff run, who are you picking? The answer is going to be Nikola Jokic. That’s why he’s won 3 of the last 4 MVP awards. It’s why he’s the only player in the top 3 in points, rebounds, and assists, and will be the only player in league history to finish top 3 in those metrics. It’s why he’s currently giving us the fourth highest BPM and PER seasons in league history.

While SGA is a great player, we all know he’s not the same player Jokic is. That’s why no one blinks an eye at his significantly lower assist rates, despite playing point guard. It’s why no one nitpicks him the way critics do Jokic. Jokic has a higher standard to meet, because he’s set himself apart as the best player in the league. It’s him and the rest. In fact, if organizations had to draft a new team each season, is there any guarantee that SGA would go second? How many teams would pick Giannis? Or even Tatum, given his versatility and size?

Jokic is the most impactful player in the league. You can look at PER, BPM, VORP, Expected Wins Added, Value Added, eFG%, TS%, On/Off Numbers, Offensive Rating, Assist Percentage, Triple Doubles—he’s got SGA beat in all of them.

But it’s not just about the stats. It’s about the eye test. It’s about common sense. We all know that Jokic is the best player in the league. More than that, we know he’s an all time great deserving of a fourth MVP. You don’t own 4 of the top 5 BPM seasons ever and 2 of the top 4 PER seasons ever by accident. You don’t look set to shatter the career triple double record at 30 because of luck. Jokic is the best player in the league, playing the best basketball in the league. That’s the definition of the MVP.