Cousins Isn’t ‘Comfortable’ With Jokic Winning A Third MVP
Cousins says Jokic winning 3 MVPs in a row would put him in GOAT conversations and he’s not okay with it.
A lot of people don’t want to see Nikola Jokic win the MVP title for a third year in a row.
They believe that he doesn’t deserve it. DeMarcus Cousins is one of those people.
On the KG Certified podcast, he told Kevin Garnett that he’s “not okay” with the Joker winning three in a row because it puts him into the GOAT conversation.
“I am not okay with it being 3 MVPs in a row because then it becomes a conversation, ‘Is this the best basketball player to ever touch a basketball?’” Cousins says. “I think we can all agree that he’s not. Not saying he can’t be, not saying he doesn’t deserve more down the road, but at this stage in his career, I am not okay with saying that.”
This season, Jokic led the Denver Nuggets to the first seed in the Western Conference with averages of 24.5 points on 63 percent shooting, 11.8 rebounds, 9.8 assists, and 1.3 steals.
Cousins also said that Jokic hasn’t done much in the playoffs, so to put him above guys such as Shaq and Hakeem with a third MVP is preposterous.
“He has not won anything, he hasn’t been to the Finals,” he continued. “There are a lot of things still in play for him. That’s my only concern. At this point, he’s the best center of all time. Three in a row? We’re putting him over the likes of Shaquille O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, Tim Duncan, and Wilt Chamberlain -that’s a tough conversation to have because we have seen what these guys have done. Can we sit right here and say Jokic not only is the best big ever, but the best basketball player ever with 3 MVPs in a row? I am not comfortable saying that.”
My Thoughts
I don’t entirely agree with Boogie here.
First off, the MVP title is for regular season play, so Jokic not having the most success in the playoffs shouldn’t be a determining factor.
Second, Jokic winning a third MVP wouldn’t make him the best player ever.
The MVP award is meant to honour the best player of a particular season. If he also wins this year, that just means that he happened to be the best player the past 3 seasons -or voters felt that he was.
It doesn’t mean that he is better than the greatest of great players. It just means that there isn’t as much competition for him as there was for past MVPs and MVP candidates.
However, I do agree with one point (and maybe this is something that Cousins didn’t convey well): 20 years from now, when new fans are looking back at the great NBA players of the past, they can potentially say that Jokic is better than the likes of Shaq, Magic, Jordan, Kobe, and LeBron, to name a bunch, because he won three straight MVPs and neither of the other players did.
And that could be potentially incorrect on the new fans' assessment.
But Jokic’s story isn’t over yet and we don’t know what the fates have in store for him. He could win three championships in the next 10 years or he could win none.
That’s why, for this award, we should just assess him for how he’s doing in a particular season - the other stuff can be discussed but it shouldn’t play a factor in the voting.
Do you agree with Cousins?
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