The Unthinkable Snub: Nikola Jokic is Playing the Greatest Basketball Ever Seen, Yet the MVP Vote Is Already a ‘Rerun’

In a league that prides itself on perpetual surprise, a bizarre and historically significant disconnect is currently underway, one that threatens to undermine the very integrity of the Most Valuable Player award. Nikola Jokic, the Serbian center for the Denver Nuggets, has not just elevated his game; he has entered a new statistical dimension, one that former greats like Michael Jordan and LeBron James never touched. Yet, in the early stages of the season, a media-driven narrative appears to be actively looking past this unprecedented dominance, setting the stage for what could be the most shocking MVP snub in modern history.

For those watching closely, the feeling is one of bewildered awe, quickly morphing into frustration. Jokic is bending the entire sport out of shape in real-time, performing at an “extraterrestrial” level that defies the formulas and metrics used for decades to judge talent. Every fancy superlative feels inadequate; every historical comparison fails. The core message is simple: what Nikola Jokic is doing right now has never been done before, and yet, the betting boards and early league ladders have him sitting outside the top two, a ranking that is, frankly, an insult to the numbers he is generating.

The Night of the Statistical Impossibility

The full scope of this absurdity was laid bare following his legendary performance against the Los Angeles Clippers. The conditions were stacked against him: it was the second night of a punishing back-to-back, on the road in Los Angeles, and he was matched up against Ivica Zubac, a player Jokic himself has acknowledged as one of the most effective individual defenders against him. This was supposed to be the quiet night, the moment the unsustainable pace finally slowed down.

Instead, Jokic delivered a masterful 55-point, 12-rebound, 6-assist clinic, turning what should have been a struggle into a showcase of sheer, clinical dominance. The efficiency was what truly shattered the boundaries of belief. He finished the game shooting 18-of-23 from the field, 5-of-6 from deep, and 14-of-16 from the free-throw line. This resulted in a true shooting percentage hovering around an unheard-of 78% for a player handling that kind of volume. For a player of his size and position, against a top defender, this output is not just rare—it’s statistically nonsensical.

This 55-point eruption was not an anomaly; it was merely the punctuation mark on a six-game stretch that has fundamentally rewritten the NBA record book. Over these six victories, which propelled the Nuggets to an impressive 9-2 record, Nikola Jokic is averaging a staggering 35 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists—a 35-point triple-double. And he is doing it while shooting a ridiculous 74% from the field and 56% from three-point range.

This six-game run is the historic crux of the debate. To be clear, in the entire history of the NBA, no player—not Jordan, not LeBron, not Wilt Chamberlain—has ever averaged a 35-point triple-double on 70% shooting over any six-game span. The fact that Jokic is executing this high-volume, hyper-efficient production stretch after stretch is the very definition of an unprecedented career run. It is, by cold, hard numbers, the greatest stretch of individual basketball we have ever witnessed.

The Case of the Box Plus/Minus (BPM) Anomaly

To truly grasp the separation between Jokic and the rest of the league, one must look beyond the traditional box scores and dive into the advanced metrics—the same formulas the league has relied on for two decades to determine dominance and value. These formulas, however, are now proving to be completely useless because Jokic is breaking them.

The Box Plus/Minus (BPM) statistic measures a player’s contribution per 100 possessions above an average player, using the box score. Historically, a single-season BPM of 10 was considered the pinnacle, the guaranteed marker of an MVP. For context, if a player hit 10 BPM in a given season, they were almost always the only player in double digits, and they were universally crowned the league’s most valuable.

Now, consider this astonishing reality: Nikola Jokic is averaging a BPM of 10.4 for his entire career.

This is the point where the statistical conversation becomes absolutely explosive. When you examine the all-time career BPM rankings, the greatest to ever play sit below him. Michael Jordan, the measuring stick of basketball greatness, holds a career BPM of 9.2. LeBron James, the game’s modern iron man, is at 8.5. Jokic is not just ahead of them; he is a full point above Jordan and nearly two points above LeBron. This means, statistically, Jokic has been sustaining a level of overall contribution and impact over his career that is simply unmatched by the two most celebrated players in history.

And this season? Before the Clippers game, Jokic’s BPM was already climbing toward an absurd 19.2. After this latest masterpiece, he is expected to break into the 20s. To put this into perspective, his closest contemporaries—the other elite MVP candidates like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Dončić, and Giannis Antetokounmpo—are all having career-best seasons, hovering in the 11 BPM range.

Jokic is literally playing at a level twice as good as any other superstar in the league this season, according to the advanced metrics designed to measure a player’s value. If a BPM of 10 guarantees an MVP, what should a BPM of 20 secure?

The Crisis of Narrative Over Reality

Despite this unprecedented statistical torrent, Jokic started the day ranked third in the Las Vegas SuperBook’s MVP odds. This ranking has nothing to do with what is currently happening on the court, because the numbers Jokic is putting up don’t look real. Instead, this positioning speaks volumes about the perceived preference among voters and the media, suggesting a decision has already been largely settled before the calendar even flips to the new year.

The reason is the irresistible storyline currently unfolding in Oklahoma City. The Thunder, spearheaded by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, have begun the season at a scorching 12-1, winning games by an average of 15.5 points. They are legitimately on pace to join an exclusive club of 70-win teams, alongside Jordan’s Bulls and Curry’s Warriors. This level of team dominance creates a powerful, easily digestible narrative that often trumps individual metrics in the minds of voters.

The feeling is that the league and the media are running a “rerun” of last year’s MVP script, focusing on the dynamic rise of a star on a juggernaut team. Even though Jokic is outpacing SGA in every measurable category—stats, impact, and value to his team—the narrative seems locked in. The commentary suggests that voters are fixated on handing the award to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for a second straight year, regardless of the fact that Nikola Jokic is assembling what might be the greatest individual season anyone has ever seen.

The irony is that Jokic’s dominance is also driving undeniable team success. The Denver Nuggets, thanks to this historic run, are 9-2, boast the number one rated offense in the entire league, and the number two rated defense. They are tied near the top of the league in Simple Rating System (SRS) and are crushing opponents by an average margin of 13.5 points per game. Jokic’s value to the team is irrefutable; his presence is the engine of a championship-caliber team.

History’s Verdict on the Oversight

Ultimately, the voting process is a subjective human endeavor, often susceptible to narrative fatigue or the lure of a fresh, compelling story. But the numbers, in this case, are screaming a different reality. Nikola Jokic is not just improving year after year; he is setting a new benchmark for what is statistically possible in professional basketball, leveling up from absurd to even more absurd with every passing game.

The coming weeks will reveal whether the media narrative can sustain itself against a statistical tsunami. Will the voters finally be forced to acknowledge that a career BPM surpassing Jordan and a seasonal efficiency rate breaking all historical precedent simply cannot be ignored?

If the early indications hold true and Nikola Jokic is denied the MVP award while performing at a level twice as effective as his peers, it will not just be an oversight—it will be a historic footnote, documenting the year the NBA’s most valuable player was actively overlooked in favor of a pre-written script. The Joker has played his hand, and now the league must decide if it is ready to accept that the parameters of greatness have fundamentally changed.