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.

Looking for Some Deer to Fear

Another old favorite is challenging for a title after numerous set backs. Following surprisingly early exits from the post-season after amassing the league's best record two years running, the Milwaukee Bucks have re-grouped and face the Phoenix Suns for the 2020/21 NBA championship.

Much has been made of the fact it's their first crack at a championship since 1974, five years after the selection of Lew Alcindor (you probably know him as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) in the 1969 draft instantly catapulted the expansion Bucks into contention in just their second season.

(It didn't hurt they unearthed a future Hall of Famer—small forward Bob Dandridge—deep in the fourth round of the same draft.)

The young team needed a stabilizing veteran, and the then-Cincinnati Royals (now the Sacramento Kings) gifted Oscar Robertson to the Bucks in exchange for Flynn Robinson and Charlie Paulk.

While Robinson was a decent combo guard for a handful of seasons, Paulk was out of the NBA just two years later. Given how lopsided the trade was, it's pretty obvious that with Robertson in his thirties and still without a ring and the Royals lapsing into mediocrity, it was a kindness extended to the all-time great for ten seasons of jaw-dropping basketball.

After Alcindor/Jabbar was traded to the Lakers following the 1974/75 season, the Bucks—not surprisingly—declined. But the rebuild was a very short one. Don Nelson arrived for the 1977/78 season and the Bucks were on their way.

Point guard Brian Winters (obtained in the Jabbar trade) had emerged along with forward Marques Johnson to lead the new look Bucks. Guard Quinn Buckner and forward Junior Bridgeman (also obtained in the Jabbar trade) added valuable support off the bench and the Bucks found themselves in the post-season.

They advanced to the second round, where it took the Denver Nuggets seven games to conquer the young'uns.

After a brief stumble in 1978/79 the Bucks returned the following year bolstered by first-round draft choice Sidney Moncrief, the acquisition of veteran center Bob Lanier and the blossoming of Bridgeman into a full-fledged starter.

The addition of Lanier was perfect for a coach who prized spacing and ball movement. His Bucks never had a single dominant scorer, but several who could move the ball around and keep defenses guessing.

And Moncrief became a brilliant guard and just one in a string of Bucks guards known for their suffocating defense.

Deft trades and savvy drafting became hallmarks of the Nelson era and the primary reasons for their ongoing success.

When Lanier finally announced his retirement it took only a single season for Nelson to land his replacement, the similarly talented Jack Sikma.

And while Winters had been a capable point guard, the addition of Paul Pressy in the '82 draft was a definite upgrade. As was the trade of aging forwards Bridgeman and Johnson in September of 1984 for Terry Cummings and two guards yet to fulfill their promise: Craig Hodges and Ricky Pierce.

Pierce in particular was able to step-up and fill the void left when Moncrief's knees began to fail him prematurely.

Despite another brief trip to the playoffs (they lost the semis in seven to the Seattle Supersonics), they had captured the first of what would be seven straight divisional crowns and set the foundation for what would be a decade of sustained success.

1979/80 was also the first in what would be a dozen consecutive post-season appearances and these Nelson-coached teams would win a minimum of fifty games for each of the next seven years.

But like so many storied contenders, their greatest weakness was timing. The Bucks ascended just as the Larry Bird-Robert Parrish-Kevin McHale Boston Celtics were taking ownership of the Eastern Conference. And on the rare occasions when the Celtics weren't dominating, it was the Philadelphia 76ers of Julius Irving, Moses Malone and Maurice Cheeks.

In fact, those Sixers knocked the Bucks out of the playoffs four of the next five seasons. And when the Bucks got past Philadelphia, it was only to face those fearsome Celtics. 

Like I said, timing.

In fact, in the Bucks three visits to the Eastern Conference Finals in '83, '84 and '86, they lost to the eventual NBA Champion each time.

In the ensuing three decades the Bucks had some nice players and even made the Eastern Conference Finals in 2001 with a team built around Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson and Sam Cassell.

But it couldn't continue. Not until Giannis Antetokounmpo showed up, anyway.

With the Bucks having fallen behind in each of their previous two series, they now have done so again. The Suns are firing on all cylinders and their guards are plainly outplaying the Bucks' pair. Stir in the suddenly-elevated play of Deandre Ayton and fearing the deer suddenly takes a bit of effort.

Is it presumptuous to call tonight's game a must-win?