Center Stage Debate

Cheers to the guys at the Athletic, who unanimously voted for Nikola Jokic as the NBA's 2021/22 Most Valuable Player. In the gentlest, most-inoffensive manner possible, I am tempted to ask: why is it even up for debate?

Let me explain.

Way back on October 20^th, Jokic took the court against the Phoenix Suns minus his number-two guy, combo guard Jamal Murray. Murray was (and remains) out for the year with a torn ACL. Eight games later, he lost his number-three guy, small forward Michael Porter, Jr. for the remainder of the season owing to a back injury.

All Jokic did was put these once and future contenders on his sizeable back, work in Murray and Porter's replacements and lead the Nuggets to 48 victories and the number-six seed in the Western Conference.

(Heaping a little irony onto the debate, how ironic is it that in this era when the importance of the center has been marginalized, the three leading candidates for the MVP award are, well centers?)

Yes. You are correct. Giannis Antetokounmpo spent portions of the season without teammates Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday, even playing out of position in lieu of center Brook Lopez's availability. But do I even need to clarify the difference between 'portions of a season' and 'out for the season'?

Like Michael Jordan, one could cast an MVP vote for Antetokounmpo every season for the remainder of his career and have it be entirely defensible. Except in one as unique as Jokic's.

Seventy-sixer center Joel Embiid is in the thick of the conversation, as well he should be. But compared to Antetokounmpo and Jokic, I have to feel he did less with more. Granted, Ben Simmons' absence was a distraction and an on-court loss, but second-year guard Tyrese Maxey proved to be a more-than-adequate replacement and had to be a delight to all within the 76er organization.

And um, let's not forget Embiid spent a quarter of the season with a guy named James Harden. Yet he won just three more games in a less-competitive conference with a mostly-intact roster than Jokic did in a harder one minus two all-star caliber colleagues.

If the definition of a most valuable player is how badly the team would fare without him, the choice for MVP becomes still-clearer. The 2021/22 Denver Nuggets without Jokic would be the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Philadelphia without Embiid? Milwaukee without Antetokounmpo? Mediocre, but hardly in line for a lottery pick. In the time-honored fashion, Jokic made those around him better. Neither of his competitors could say the same.

Then there is the statistical singularity of Jokic's season. Not even Wilt Chamberlain, ladies and gentlemen. Not even Wilt fucking Chamberlain.

Finally, in a time where everything has become so incredibly polarizing, where every choice takes on the weight of a divisive, gauntlet-lying Supreme Court decision determining the future of western civilization, can we keep in mind this is merely an award given to a professional athlete?

If the professional observers who determine these things don't agree with me, it's fine. My life will continue, as will Nikola Jokic's.

Play on, gentlemen.