Through the first quarter of the NBA regular season, Warriors star Stephen Curry jumped out to become an early favourite to win NBA MVP.
The buzz surrounded players like Curry and Nets forward Kevin Durant, as well as a newly found – and rightful – infatuation with Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan.
Maybe it's the ridiculous standard he has set for himself, but Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo wasn't receiving much early MVP consideration, although that has changed since Milwaukee's recent stretch of success.
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All of those stars have built strong cases for the league's most prestigious individual award, but what about the guy who took home the hardware last year?
Reigning MVP Nikola Jokic has been just as good – if not better – than he was during his 2020-21 MVP season. And yet, he hasn't had anywhere near the amount of attention as some of the other mentioned players.
Take Saturday, Dec. 11 as the perfect example.
All eyes were on Curry to break the NBA's all-time 3-point record and even when he came up well short of the goal, it was all anyone talked about.
MORE: Curry is poised to pass Ray Allen as NBA's all-time 3-point leader
Meanwhile, that same night, Jokic posted a dominant 35 points, 17 rebounds and eight assists to lead his shorthanded Nuggets to a road win over the Spurs, and you hardly heard a peep about it.
35 PTS | 17 REB | 8 AST
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) December 12, 2021
Out of words to describe Nikola's dominance. pic.twitter.com/lOwjwZlZQu
If Curry, Durant or LeBron James put up a stat line like that, the highlights would be on loop for days. But when it's Jokic, his insane performance just gets brushed off to the side.
It's time to stop overlooking what the reigning MVP is doing and start considering the fact that he's building a resume to become only the 13th player in NBA history to win the award in back-to-back seasons.
Jokic and the Nuggets started the season down their second-best player, as star guard Jamal Murray is still sidelined while rehabbing his torn ACL he suffered last April. Things got worse for Denver just nine games into the year when rising star forward Michael Porter Jr. went down with a back injury, and he is now expected to miss the remainder of the season after receiving surgery.
Without their next two best players, it would be easy for the Nuggets to take a precautious route, look toward the future and give Jokic some nights off. Instead, he's taken his game to another level, keeping Denver competitive in the Western Conference.
So far this year, Jokic is averaging 26.5 points, 13.5 rebounds and 7.2 assists. There are only two players in the NBA this season who are averaging at least 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists per game – the other being Antetokounmpo.
If that doesn't impress you, his productive start to the season has only been seen one other time in NBA history.
Through his first 20 games, Jokic posted a total of 521 points, 267 rebounds and 144 assists. According to Basketball-Reference's Justin Kubatko, he joined Oscar Robertson (1961-62) to be the second player in NBA history to record 500 points, 250 rebounds and 125 assists in the first 20 games of a season.
In his last 12 games since Porter's absence, Jokic has elevated his play even higher, again joining elite company in NBA history.
Over that 12-game span, Jokic has 327 points, 163 rebounds and 105 assists. Per Kubatko, he joins Larry Bird and Russell Westbrook as the only players to ever tally 300 points, 150 rebounds and 100 assists during a 12-game stretch.
It's more than just individual stats, too. His on/off splits are more drastic than any player in the NBA this season, further proving just how valuable he is to his team.
According to NBA stats, the Nuggets own a net rating of +13.4 when Jokic is on the floor and -15.7 when he is off the floor. That means Denver is 29.1 (!) points per 100 possessions better when Jokic is on the floor – the largest differential for any player in the league. (According to StatMuse, Antetokounmpo is second with a +22.5 point differential.)
In terms of offensive and defensive rating, the Nuggets own what would be the second-ranked offence and defence in the NBA when Jokic is on the floor, compared to the very worst offence and defence in the NBA when he is off the floor.
If those numbers don't scream Most Valuable Player, I don't know what does.
This isn't to discredit what players like Curry, Durant and Antetokounmpo are doing; it's more to shine a light on a player who should already have more attention as is with his standing as the reigning MVP.
Jokic's campaign to repeat is underway and it's time to take notice.
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