4 reasons why Nikola Jokic has locked up his 4th MVP at 30

ESPN's latest 2024-25 NBA MVP poll has Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leading the race, with Nikola Jokic right behind him.

Of course, this makes sense since the OKC Thunder are tied for the best record in the NBA, and Gilgeous-Alexander is posting Michael Jordan-ish numbers with his dominant two-way play.

Nevertheless, the Serbian big man has closed in the gap after a shaky start to the season, and with just 27 games left in the regular season, it wouldn't be a surprise to see him take home the award for the fourth time in the last five years. Here, we'll let you know why.

4 Reasons why Nikola Jokic should win MVP this season

#4 Durability

Nikola Jokic has a reputation for not loving basketball, yet he rarely misses a game. He's missed just six contests this season due to an undisclosed personal matter and his team couldn't overcome his brief absence.

In modern days, availability might be the best ability, as players miss more games now than ever. Jokic is averaging a career-high 36.0 minutes per game, two more than Shai. He's also third in total points despite missing those six games.

#3 He's making history

We've only seen two players in NBA history average a triple-double for an entire season: Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook. What do they have in common? They're both point guards.

We've never seen a big man pull the strings of the offense like Jokic has. He's not just the greatest passing center of all time; he's one of the greatest playmakers ever, period. He's on pace to average a triple-double for a season at the five spot.

#2 Depth

Sam Presti has done an outstanding job of putting together the Thunder's roster. They're deep and they have more than enough resources to match up with any other team in the league. That's not remotely the case with the Denver Nuggets.

Aaron Gordon has missed games, Jamal Murray has been inconsistent and they've struggled to replace Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Jokic has them No. 3 in the West with 36-year-old DeAndre Jordan as their third guy off the bench and they're just 0.5 games behind the No. 2 spot.

#1 He's been better than in previous MVP seasons

Nikola Jokic is posting career bests all across the board. He's averaging 29.8 points, 12.6 rebounds and 10.2 assists per game. He also has 2.0 3-pointers and 1.8 steals per game. All of those are career marks except for the RPG category, as he grabbed 13.8 boards per game in 2021-22.

If that wasn't impressive enough, he's doing so while shooting 57.7% from the floor, including 45.0% from beyond the arc and 82.3% from the charity stripe. This is the best version we've seen of someone who's already won three MVPs, so how come he shouldn't win another one?