JJ Reddick has talked about it. Jarrett Allen has talked about it. Fans everywhere talk about it: ethical basketball. Team play, sharing the ball, scoring with honesty, free from the stain of the dark art of foul baiting. It’s the kind of basketball Nikola Jokic plays, and it’s a big part of why he should be MVP.

Every era has its practitioners, its master foul hunters: James Harden, Joel Embiid, Trae Young, Jalen Brunson.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is part of that group. In fact, he leads the league in free throws made. He’s not just part a group. He’s arguably its most elite member.

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Shai gets about 24% of his total points from free throws. Jokic, meanwhile, only gets 17%. This is in part a function of the roles they play on offense. SGA has the easier job of simply driving to the paint—he leads the league in drives. But as his assist numbers reflect, he’s not asked to be the same kind of playmaker Jokic is.

More than their roles, it’s a reflection of how they play the game. Look at Jokic’s arms after a game. He’s getting fouled as much as anybody. Yet he doesn’t get the whistle. As importantly, he doesn’t look for it. Check out the clip below of Jokic driving to the basket and receiving contact in the lane. Does Jokic throw his head back? Does he chicken wing and grab the other player’s hand or arm? No, he just makes the play.

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SGA has the luxury of trying to score. He’s a cog in a machine. Jokic is the machine itself. That’s why he’s second in the league in assists, and first in touches. It’s why his assist percentage is 39.9%, compared to to 29.9% for Shai. It’s why Jokic’s usage to assist ratio is in the 97th percentile, while SGA’s is in the 8th. You put him anywhere, and he’ll elevate his teammates. That’s why he’s the MVP.