And he wins it again! Nikola Jokic claims the 2024 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award and gets his third one in just four years. The Denver Nuggets superstar has undoubtedly been one of the best players in the league in the past five years or so. However, unlike his last two trophies, Jokic winning it again had fans rooting for another player – Luka Doncic. Fans and analysts have shared their thoughts, and some are even saying that Luka got robbed. But, did he?
“Highway Robbery in Broad Daylight</3”
Millions of NBA fans are tuning in to the playoffs, especially now that the Denver Nuggets are going up against the surprising Minnesota Timberwolves led by Anthony Edwards. Just a few weeks ago, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander were named the finalists for the 2024 MVP award. But, after voting results came in, the Joker cleared out both Western guards to secure his third MVP trophy.
Fans of the Dallas Mavericks and Luka Doncic were obviously saddened, thinking that he deserved it more than Jokic. Unfortunately, Luka only finished third in MVP voting. There was even a tweet that went viral a few hours ago that shared a screenshot of Doncic’s Instagram story, stating “Highway Robbery in Broad Daylight </3”. This turned out to be a hoax, and apparently, it was just made up by a parody account.
Did Luka Doncic deserve the MVP more than Nikola Jokic?
Luka Doncic was playing at an MVP level throughout the 2023–2024 NBA season. Even with All-Star guard Kyrie Irving, the 25-year-old Slovenian hotshot managed to become the league’s scoring leader this year with 33.9 points per game (Joel Embiid is disqualified due to a lot of missed games). Aside from scoring, Luka is also an assist machine, as he ranks second in total assists. Truly, Dallas’ golden boy played one helluva season. But, the MVP award is still elusive, even with his 34-9-9 stat line and his efforts to bring the Mavericks to the playoffs as the 5th seed in a very competitive Western Conference.
Was Luka Doncic robbed of the MVP award? Did he really deserve it more than Jokic or even Shai Gilgeous-Alexander? The answer is – Yes and No.
He may have been robbed of his first MVP, but that was because Nikola Jokic was a beast during the regular season. Despite his outrageous, almost triple-double averages (points, assists, rebounds, steals, shooting percentage, and more), and being dubbed as the best player in the league, it still wasn’t enough for members of the media to vote him as the MVP.
The voting results came in on May 8th, and it clearly shows that Jokic cleared the competition. The Serbian big man got 79 first-place votes and a total of 926 points. Meanwhile, SGA and Doncic had 15 first-place votes (640 total points) and 4 first-place votes (566 total points), respectively.
The good thing is that Luka and the Mavericks survived the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round and are now playing against OKC in the semi-finals. Moreover, Luka is able to co-exist with Kyrie, another ball-dominant guard. Both have been playing seamlessly together and the chemistry between the two stars is off the charts.
Shaquille O’Neal dropped the bomb after claiming Nikola Jokic shouldn’t have been the MVP
NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal felt someone else should have won the MVP award. The Diesel expected Shai to win it this year because of the youngster’s amazing performance as the true leader of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“I don’t like to rain on people’s parade, but I’m not happy with this one. …I felt Shai deserved it.”
OKC surprisingly became the top seed in the West at the end of the 2023-2024 season. That being said, Shaq couldn’t be mad about Jokic taking it home, either. To no one’s surprise, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith also shares the same idea.
