ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith says the NBA MVP race is over.
Hands down, it’s Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander unless he “falls off the map,” according to Smith who made his proclamation last week.
It’s Smith’s opinion and his vote (he is expected to have a vote this season), so he can (and does) do what he wants with both. But in an MVP race as close as this one between Gilgeous-Alexander and Denver’s Nikola Jokic, it’s premature to declare an MVP now. Plus, it’s a disservice to Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokic, who are having historic seasons.
Jokic has said in previous seasons that he doesn’t care about the MVP, but there are times he does care, and this season is one of those times.
‘I will say that I think I’m playing the best basketball of my life, so if that’s enough, it’s enough,” Jokic recently told reporters. “If not, the guy deserves it. He’s really amazing.’
That’s as close to stumping for himself that Jokic is going to get, but for him to declare that after winning MVP three previous times is saying something.
Voters will have to figure out what that something is.
Here are this week’s USA TODAY Sports’ NBA MVP power rankings:
NBA MVP power rankings
5. Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell
The best player on the best team in the conference deserves recognition. The Cavaliers, who are 57-14 and just behind the Thunder for the league’s best record, would be good without Mithcell, but they wouldn’t be what they are without him. Mithcell averages 23.7 points, 4.8 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals and shoots 44% from the field, 36.7% on 3s and 82.4% on free throws. He has helped the Cavaliers to winning streaks of at least 10 games three times this season, including a 15-0 mark to start the season and a recent 16-game winning streak. Yes, they lost a little focus during a four-game losing streak last week, but they are on pace to win 60 games for just the third time in franchise history and just the first time without LeBron James on the roster. Getting Mitchell to sign a three-year extension in the summer ensured the Cavs could be in this position.
4. Celtics forward Jayson Tatum
He had been as steady as ever, scoring when necessary and distributing to his teammates when drawing extra attention from defenders. Yet, Tatum rolled his left ankle Monday night when he landed on the foot of Kings center Domantas Sabonis. Tatum told ESPN that the ankle was “just sore,” though — with Boston sitting comfortably in the No. 2 seed in the East — the team may opt to be cautious and hold him out until fully healthy. The injury, in effect, torpedoes any remote chance he had to win his first career MVP.
3. Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo
He keeps putting up monster games — in Saturday’s win against the Kings, Antetokounmpo dropped 32 points and grabbed 17 rebounds — but the Bucks have stumbled a bit recently, losing five of their past nine games. What stands out in Antetokounmpo’s game over this season and the last is increased efficiency; after hitting shots at a career-high 61.1% clip last year, Antetokounmpo is once again flirting with 60%, sitting at 59.9%.
2. Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
The model of consistency, Gilgeous-Alexander became just the seventh player in NBA history — he joined Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant — to score 20 or more points in at least 60 consecutive games. In Sunday night’s victory over the Clippers, Gilgeous-Alexander extended his streak to 64 games.
1. Nuggets center Nikola Jokić
Jokic averages 29.1 points (third in the NBA), 12.8 rebounds (third in the league) and 10.3 assists (No. 2), and if those positions hold, Jokic will become the first player in NBA history to finish in the top three in those categories in the same season. He also is on pace to become the third player in league history to average a triple-double for a full season. Add his 57.5% shooting from the field, 41.3% shooting on 3s and 80.7% mark on free throws and the Nuggets’ offensive rating is a massive 21 points per 100 possessions when he is on the court. Jokic is assembling one of the greatest offensive seasons the NBA has witnessed for a team on pace to win 50-plus games.