The 2025 NBA MVP race is officially heating up, and there’s one thing we know for sure: Nikola Jokic doesn’t really care about the award. Jokic already has three MVPs on his mantle, and could join an exclusive club with only Kareem, MJ, LeBron, Wilt, and Russell if he can outlast Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Giannis Antetokounmpo to win his fourth.
What Jokic does care about is carrying his Denver Nuggets up the Western Conference standings and into a protected playoff seed. The Nuggets took another step towards that on Wednesday night when they defeated the surging Atlanta Hawks, 139-120. With the win, Denver improves to 19-14 overall and moves up to the No. 4 seed in the West.
This Nuggets season felt like it could have gone off the rails early. Jamal Murray’s play has slipped after a series of nagging injuries, too many key pieces from the 2023 championship team have been lost in free agency, and the young players on the roster aren’t ready for prime time just yet. Somehow, Jokic has elevated his play to new heights to drag this team to competency — with a little help from Russell Westbrook. He had one of his wildest stat lines of the season in the win over the Hawks.
Jokic posted with 23 points, 17 rebounds, and 15 assists in the victory. He only needed 29 minutes to do it. It’s the first 20+ point, 15+ rebound, 15+ assist in under 30 minutes in league history. Watch the highlights here:
Jokić’s triple-double for the Nuggets was so efficient, it was DIZZYING
23 PTS
17 REB
15 AST
IN 29 MINUTESIt’s the FIRST game of 20+p, 15+r, & 15+a in under 30 MIN in NBA HISTORY! pic.twitter.com/Aw1KrpVFhp
— NBA (@NBA) January 2, 2025
As Kirk Goldsberry noted in a recent episode of the Bill Simmons Podcast, Jokic is currently averaging more points than Shaq ever did in his career, more rebounds per game than Tim Duncan ever had per game in a season, and more assists than Chris Paul ever averaged in a season. Oh by the way, he’s tops in the league in three-point shooting at 49.2 percent.
Westbrook agrees: Jokic the best player in the world, and he’s dragging the Nuggets with him.
It’s hard to imagine that Gilgeous-Alexander and Antetokounmpo can play any better than they have this season. Jokic was No. 1 in our recent MVP rankings for a reason, though. There’s just nobody else at his level.
