Nikola Jokic's MVP Campaign Reaches Head on Christmas Day
Nikola Jokic has won three out of the last five MVP awards in the NBA, and there's an argument he should've had all five. In 2023, the NBA voted Joel Embiid the MVP over Jokic, which was highly controversial. In 2025, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won the award, and it really could've gone either way.
This year, the award is likely to come down to Jokic or Gilgeous-Alexander once again, with Luka Doncic likely playing third fiddle this time. And while the season's not halfway over, Jokic's early campaign has been highly impressive, and he emphasized his case with a stunning Christmas performance.
Nikola Jokic dominates on Christmas
Nikola Jokic has been dominant all season, but he really put on a show on Christmas Day. In an overtime thriller against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Jokic had an astonishing 56-point triple-double. There have only been 17 triple-doubles with over 50 points.
And of those, only four had more points than Jokic. One such example was the Denver Nuggets big man himself, who had an unfathomable 60-point triple-double (with over 20 rebounds, too) in 2022. This was, simply put, one of the best games of basketball ever.
That includes an NBA record. Jokic had 38 at the end of regulation, and his 18 points in the overtime period broke Steph Curry's record of 17 from 2016. Jokic helped the Nuggets overcome a 44-point outing from Anthony Edwards and the loss of three starters to injury.
The Nuggets fell behind 124-115 in the extra period, but Jokic helped will them back and carried them by going 10/11 at the free-throw line in overtime. They were able to overcome Edwards' game-tying three at the end of regulation, and it helped that Edwards was ejected from the game later for arguing foul calls.
Jokic's game was the third-best scoring output on Christmas in NBA history. It was the first 55-point, 15-rebound, 15-assist game ever recorded in NBA history. For fantasy basketball, that's well over 100 fantasy points, which is just absurd.
According to GameScore, this was the seventh-best game in NBA history with a score of 59.8. It was Jokic's 179th triple-double. Two more and he will pass Oscar Robertson for second in NBA history.
Nikola Jokic's MVP campaign
In so many stats, both Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are up at the top among all NBA players. Jokic is fifth in scoring, and SGA is second. The Nuggets center is also shooting an unfathomable 60.9% from the field despite attempting over 17 shots, five of which are threes every game.
Jokic is first in the NBA in rebounds, and he has the most assists per game, too. He's the only player currently averaging a triple-double at 29.8 points, 12.1 rebounds, and 11.0 assists. In fact, he's the only player averaging double-digit assists. This is your reminder that he's a center.
To top it all off, he is averaging 1.4 steals and 0.8 blocks per game. This is the main argument. Is Jokic's all-around dominance enough to get him past SGA, who has better scoring and better defense? To that argument, Gilgeous-Alexander's net rating is a few points higher.
This is because of SGA's defensive rating, which is 105.9. That's a really good mark, especially for someone not known as a defensive specialist. Jokic, to his credit, is at 115.4, which is slightly below average but one of his better marks.
If the race continues like this, there will be no good answer. Based on the metrics, Gilgeous-Alexander's overall value is still better than Jokic's. His team will also likely be better. However, it's hard to take away from the brilliance of Jokic. Averaging a triple-double and being just a hair under 30 points per game is wildly impressive. The voters will have another tough choice.
