{"id":116830,"date":"2025-01-08T13:48:58","date_gmt":"2025-01-08T18:48:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=116830"},"modified":"2025-01-08T13:48:58","modified_gmt":"2025-01-08T18:48:58","slug":"nikola-jokic-proving-himself-most-valuable-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/01\/08\/nikola-jokic-proving-himself-most-valuable-player\/","title":{"rendered":"Nikola Joki\u0107 is Proving Himself as the Most Valuable Player"},"content":{"rendered":"

After missing Tuesday’s matchup against the Boston Celtics, Nikola Joki\u0107<\/a> showed his worth as the most valuable player in the association. How could a player show their value in a game he missed? The Nuggets struggled heavily during periods against the reigning champions, which further proved his worth. Taking averages of 31.5 points, 13.0 rebounds and 9.7 assists away from a team would typically mean two solid players were out. Not for the Nuggets. All that production comes from Joki\u0107. Replicating that production while he is out is giving their players an impossible task.<\/p>\n

Nikola Joki\u0107 is Proving Himself as the Most Valuable Player<\/h2>\n

The Nuggets are a Different Team without Joki\u0107<\/h3>\n

Joki\u0107 has missed four of Denver’s 35 games this season. Without him, they are 1-3 on the season. Although Joki\u0107 has cemented himself as one of the league’s best players, the drop-off without him is significant. In the four games without their superstar, the Nuggets averaged<\/a> 103.0 points, 42.3 rebounds, and 25.0 assists per game. Their shooting accuracy in those games are 44.7% from the field and 32.9% from three. The Nuggets lost direction on offense at times in those contests. Joki\u0107 is the Nuggets’ captain of the ship, guiding them on offense. The Nuggets have proven a ship is nothing without their captain.<\/p>\n

With Joki\u0107, the Nuggets are 19-12. Their offense is elite when he is on the floor. In games he plays<\/a>, their averages rise across the board. They average 122.6 points, 45.5 rebounds, and 32.3 assists per game. The Nuggets shoot 50.3% from the field and 38.7% from three. One player causing such a significant difference in per-game averages speaks to how much the Nuggets rely on Joki\u0107. He is the backbone of the team, especially on offense.<\/p>\n

It’s not just games where Joki\u0107 misses where the Nuggets struggle without him. When Joki\u0107 goes to the bench, the Nuggets’ offense falls apart<\/a>, but their defense plays roughly the same. On the season, Joki\u0107 has an 11.0 net rating<\/a> with a 124.2 offensive rating and 113.2 defensive rating. The Nuggets have a 3.1 net rating<\/a> with a 116.9 offensive rating and 113.8 defensive rating on the season. With Joki\u0107 playing 37.1 minutes per game, it shows how huge a drop-off the team experiences when he is not on the court.<\/p>\n

Joki\u0107 Defines the Definition of Value<\/h3>\n

Several factors determine the value of anything in life. A conglomeration of ideals and uses determines value, which remains the same in sports. Statistics are only one portion of a player’s value to their organization. Joki\u0107’s statistics are eye-popping and contribute to his value as a player, but it extends beyond the stats. When deciding which player deserves the MVP award, attitude, responsibility, impact, and performance are huge factors.<\/p>\n

Joki\u0107’s attitude has remained consistent since arriving in the NBA. He wants to win but treats the NBA as his job. Goals are subjective \u2014 for some players, it can be fame, status, or money. For Joki\u0107, it is improving and winning. He has done exactly that during his ten seasons in the NBA. Rising from a second round pick to a three-time MVP, an unprecedented feat, Joki\u0107 has defied the odds. He helped bring the Nuggets to their first NBA Finals in the franchise’s history, winning it in five games.<\/p>\n

Regarding responsibility and impact, Joki\u0107 carries his weight and more. The Nuggets’ elite offense runs through Joki\u0107. He is responsible for producing every night, or else the Nuggets’ hopes of winning drop significantly. In games where he scores 30 points or more, the Nuggets are 11-5<\/a>. In the other 14 games, they are 8-7. With the Nuggets needing him in his top form every game, he must carry them to victory. Out of his 31 games, he has finished with a positive plus\/minus in 22, going 18-4. The Nuggets are 1-8 in the other nine.<\/p>\n

Joki\u0107 is out to an early MVP lead<\/a> due to his consistent success and the impact he provides to the team. It is nearly impossible for the Nuggets to win if Joki\u0107 doesn’t play to his standards. His value to the Nuggets extends beyond the stat sheet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After missing Tuesday’s matchup against the Boston Celtics, Nikola Joki\u0107 showed his worth as the most valuable player in the association. How could a player show their value in a game he missed? The Nuggets struggled heavily during periods against the reigning champions, which further proved his worth. Taking averages of 31.5 points, 13.0 rebounds […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5342,"featured_media":116866,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,1608,62],"tags":[72],"class_list":["post-116830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nuggets","category-basketball","category-nba","tag-nikola-jokic"],"modified_by":"Kenny Kluska","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5342"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116830"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116867,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116830\/revisions\/116867"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}