In a league obsessed with hype, flash, and the relentless pursuit of celebrity, true, quiet dominance often gets lost in the noise. Nikola Jokić, the Serbian sensation known simply as “Big Honey,” is the ultimate embodiment of this paradox. On a seemingly ordinary night, the Denver Nuggets’ center did what no NBA star—save for the legendary, mythical Wilt Chamberlain—had ever done before, shattering a record many believed was untouchable. Jokić officially surpassed Chamberlain for the most triple-doubles ever by a center, an achievement so vast it should have generated seismic headlines across the world.
But in the strange, inverted reality of the current NBA media landscape, the thunderous silence that followed the historic milestone speaks volumes. The man who is objectively dominating every advanced metric, single-handedly carrying a perpetually injured franchise, and rewriting history in front of our eyes is currently sitting, inexplicably, as a distant third in the MVP odds. This is not just a statistical anomaly; it is an organizational and journalistic crime against greatness—a collective refusal by the very people who write the game’s history to accept that a slow, unorthodox, un-flashy man from Sombor, Serbia, might already be one of the greatest basketball players to ever live.
The narrative surrounding Jokić is a study in brutal contrast: historical, Wilt-level dominance pitted against contemporary, baffling disrespect. The evidence suggests that a segment of the media and the voting body is actively resisting his inevitable ascension into the sacred inner circle of basketball immortals, and the consequences of this snub will color his legacy forever.
The Glitch in the System: A Human Cheat Code
To understand the scale of the disrespect, one must first appreciate the nature of the man. Nikola Jokić is not a high-flyer. He does not possess the explosive speed of a guard or the gravity-defying verticality of a traditional center. He is a “living glitch in the system,” a “human cheat code from another era.” His game moves at a pace that is uniquely his own, a tempo so slow it’s often described as non-existent. As one observer noted, “He moves at his speed, and you can’t keep up with his speed, which is no speed in the whole idea of what speed is.”
Yet, within this deceptive slowness lies a surgical, intellectual, and physical power that is unstoppable. He’s strong, he can make every shot, and his court vision is legendary; he “sees plays before they happen.” His efficiency is simply unholy. The man is casually averaging one of the smoothest triple-doubles anyone will ever witness, shooting a truly wild 73% true shooting percentage. That’s not high-level efficiency; that is pure, video-game-level dominance that defies modern defensive schemes. He scores, he rebounds, he initiates the offense, and he involves every teammate. He is the head, the brain, the muscle, and the heartbeat of the entire Nuggets operation. The fact that the Nuggets are ranked number one in SRS across the entire league—dominance on both ends of the floor—is his doing, his magic, and his skill.
Shattering the Untouchable Myth of Wilt
The sheer scale of Jokić’s triple-double record is what elevates this current MVP snub to a matter of historical outrage. Wilt Chamberlain is a figure of NBA mythology. His 100-point game in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and his career-long statistical absurdity are often discussed with a hint of conspiracy—a feeling that such numbers couldn’t possibly be real. He stands as a monument to statistical untouchability.
Jokić, a humble, unassuming center, has now stepped shoulder-to-shoulder with that mythical energy by surpassing Wilt’s record for the most career triple-doubles by a player classified as a center. This milestone should be the singular focus of every basketball conversation, a definitive moment that solidifies his place as one of the most uniquely dominant players the league has ever hosted. It’s a statement that Jokić is not just an elite player, but a force capable of closing the statistical gap with legends who were once thought to be in a league of their own. Yet, despite breaking a record that carries the weight of history and the aura of impossibility, the conversation among voters and analysts is bizarrely silent, treating this seismic achievement like background noise.
The MVP Disrespect: A Crime Against Logic
The numbers don’t lie, but the voters apparently do. The refusal to place Jokić, who is rewriting the rulebook on center play, at the top of the MVP conversation is nothing short of a travesty driven by baffling “media politics.”
Look at the evidence: Jokić is dominating every advanced metric in existence. He is leading the entire NBA in plus/minus, sitting ahead of his nearest competitor, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, by a staggering margin of over 50 points. Plus/minus is a metric that speaks directly to a player’s impact on winning; it shows that when Jokić is on the court, his team is overwhelmingly better. Furthermore, he is rocking a higher Win Share than every other contender, proving his statistical input is directly translating into victories.
Contrast this with the arguments being made for other contenders. Last year, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s plus/minus was a major argument for his candidacy, yet he was running with one of the deepest, most balanced rosters the league had seen in years. Jokić, meanwhile, was dragging a “half-broken roster” yet still finished right behind him. This season, Jokić has flipped the script, leading the league in the metric, but somehow Vegas and the mainstream media still have him languishing in third place, behind players whose raw dominance does not match his surgical, holistic impact.
This is where the double standard becomes painfully clear. The same writers who once handed LeBron James multiple MVPs—including two after he joined a “stacked Miami Super Team,” and once even when his team didn’t hold the best record—are now acting as if Jokić is unworthy. They built up LeBron’s MVP narrative, seemingly written in the script, yet they treat Jokić’s equally, if not more, dominant run with skepticism and invisibility. What more does he have to do? Drop 100 points on live television just to get a fair vote?
Dragging the Roster to Immortality
The context of his team’s success amplifies the case for Jokić being the undeniable Most Valuable Player. While other MVPs have benefited from deep, well-structured rosters, Jokić has been the perennial anchor for a team that has struggled with consistency and health. Jamal Murray, a fantastic player, has not played more than 60-some games in a season since 2018-2019, nearly half a decade ago. Jokić, throughout his 11-year career, has never had a consistent, genuine All-Star teammate.
He has been the constant, the engine of consistency, and the sole reason the Nuggets have remained an elite contender, night after night. He keeps showing up, dominating, and running the league like a basketball machine, holding the squad together with sheer skill. While other stars sit out for weeks, Jokić is out there breaking records. It is a total crime that he is not acknowledged for the burden he carries—the burden of taking a half-broken roster and turning them into an SRS-ranked juggernaut. It is a testament to his value that the team continues to win despite the revolving door of injuries and inconsistent supporting play.
The Sacred Inner Circle
The resistance to crowning Jokić with a fourth MVP is about more than just this season; it’s about fear of his legacy. If Nikola Jokić secures his fourth MVP award, he will officially break into the most exclusive and sacred inner circle of basketball immortals. That list is currently comprised of only five names: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Wilt Chamberlain, and Bill Russell.
Jokić is already standing shoulder-to-shoulder with legends like Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, who both finished their careers with three MVPs. One more award, and he surpasses them to join a tier reserved only for the absolute pantheon of the sport. That is history in real time—the creation of a new, undeniable, all-time great.
And this, perhaps, is the true source of the resistance. The voters, the talking heads, and the traditionalists seem “scared to admit” what is staring them right in the face: that Nikola Jokić might already be one of the greatest to ever touch a basketball. To grant him that fourth MVP is to officially recognize that a slow, humble, and unorthodox center deserves a seat at the table with the titans of the game, fundamentally altering every GOAT debate moving forward. The silence is not accidental; it is a desperate, final political attempt to control a narrative that has already been decided by the unparalleled dominance of a man who is a true “living glitch” in the system. The world refuses to give him his flowers now, but when the history books are written, his incredible, dominant, and disrespected run will be undeniable.
