“Worst MVP winner in the last 40 years!” Gilbert Arenas WILD take on Nikola Jokic rattles NBA community

Nikola Jokic is on the verge of wrapping up his third league MVP award this year.

“Worst MVP winner in the last 40 years!” Gilbert Arenas WILD take on Nikola Jokic rattles NBA community

Gilbert Arenas suggests Nikola Jokic is the worst MVP to date, having won it without any historic performances

The entire basketball world knows that Nikola Jokic is one of the best players in history. The two-time MVP has a game that makes his production unique and effective. 

And that is exactly why the NBA champion Serbian is again the frontrunner in this year’s MVP voting. However, Gilbert Arenas is not a fan and brought out a wild take on why he thinks Jokic is not good as an MVP.

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The topic of Jokic leading the MVP voting came up in yesterday’s edition of the podcast Nightcap, hosted by Shannon Sharpe. As per Arenas himself, the NBA’s reason for awarding Nikola Jokic his first 2 MVPs is not valid as Jokic did not do anything historic enough to get those two awards.

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Jokic is probably, statistically, when it comes to overall game, the worst MVP winner. He is the worst MVP winner in the last 40 years. When you're talking about MVP, their teams were 1st and 2nd place. Jokic's team was 5th in 2021, he averaged 26, 8 and 10. What was the historic part of that?
Arenas had this view about the 6′ 11″ center

That’s not all; the former All-Star gave the example of Michael Jordan‘s MVP win in 1988. That year, Jordan won the All-Star MVP, the Defensive Player of the Year, and was the scoring champion. Those accolades were alongside averages of 35 points, 6 assists, and 5.5 rebounds, as well as leading the league in steals, games played, and minutes per game.

Arenas believes the historic performance countered the 7th-place regular season record for the Chicago Bulls.

In contrast, Jokic’s teams were 5th and 10th during his two MVP seasons. Arenas believes the league tried to enforce the narrative surrounding the Nuggets superstar. This is why, now that his team could finish near the top, the NBA is forced to award him the MVP trophy.

Gilbert Arenas’ MVP take has shaken up the NBA world

Gilbert Arenas believes that the NBA has awarded the MVP trophy without any clear logic in the past. Sometimes they have maintained tradition and awarded it to the top-seeded stars. For instance, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Or they should award a player for their historic performance, such as Jordan.

He took the example of Jayson Tatum, whose Boston Celtics are the best team in the NBA, suggesting that he should be the MVP frontrunner. Instead, he feels the NBA is trying to fix its mistake of awarding Jokic the MVP despite not having a historic season.

These points have set the internet on fire. After all, when someone calls out the league’s decision-making with facts and statistics, it is sure to come to everyone’s attention. Fans, analysts, players, staff, etc. are all trying to get their heads wrapped around this.

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