{"id":136017,"date":"2025-04-24T08:54:14","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T12:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=136017"},"modified":"2025-04-24T08:54:14","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T12:54:14","slug":"with-one-snub-nikola-jokics-historic-season-could-go-to-waste","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/24\/with-one-snub-nikola-jokics-historic-season-could-go-to-waste\/","title":{"rendered":"With One Snub, Nikola Joki\u0107\u2019s Historic Season Could Go To Waste"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jalen Brunson<\/a> is the face of the Knicks, and the NBA just gave<\/a> him the Clutch Player of the Year award. He earned 70 of the 100 available first-place votes and appeared on nearly every ballot. Nikola Joki\u0107<\/a> came in second with just 26 first-place votes, while Anthony Edwards<\/a> finished third. Brunson had an excellent season in crunch time. He scored 156 clutch points to Joki\u0107’s 140, a number that likely swayed voters. Still, the Nikola Joki\u0107 snub here feels impossible to ignore. Joki\u0107 led all finalists in clutch field goal percentage, hitting 56.2% of his shots. He finished in the top five for points, assists, and rebounds in late-game situations. That kind of balance should matter.<\/p>\n

With One Snub Already, Nikola Joki\u0107\u2019s Historic Season Could Go To Waste\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The award, named after Jerry West,<\/a> has only been around for three years. De\u2019Aaron Fox<\/a> won the first, Stephen Curry<\/a> the second. Brunson joins that short list. Yet this year\u2019s results shine a light on something bigger \u2014 voters may be underestimating one of the greatest statistical seasons in NBA history.<\/p>\n

Joki\u0107\u2019s Numbers Were Legendary<\/h3>\n

Joki\u0107 didn\u2019t just have a great season. He had a historic one. He averaged 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 10.2 assists per game. That puts him in rare company with Oscar Robertson<\/a> and Russell Westbrook<\/a>. Only those two had averaged a triple-double over an entire season before.<\/p>\n

This wasn\u2019t empty stat-padding either. Joki\u0107 shot efficiently from everywhere. He made over 56% of his field goals in the clutch. He was third<\/a> in clutch rebounds and second<\/a> in assists. Joki\u0107 ranked fourth<\/a> in points during high-pressure moments. And yet, this snub cost him his first shot at a major award this year.<\/p>\n

Brunson deserves praise. But does the snub reveal a larger issue: do voters now expect greatness from Nikola Joki\u0107 to the point where they overlook it?<\/p>\n

The MVP Race May Deliver Another Blow<\/h3>\n

Joki\u0107\u2019s bad luck might not stop at the Clutch Player award. The MVP race isn\u2019t looking good for him either. Media straw polls from<\/a> ESPN and player surveys from<\/a> The Athletic<\/em> suggest Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a> is the front-runner.<\/p>\n

If that trend holds, this Nikola Joki\u0107 snub could grow into something bigger \u2014 a complete shutout. Despite historic stats, Joki\u0107 might finish the year without a single individual accolade. That\u2019s hard to accept for a player who arguably had the best all-around season in the league.<\/p>\n

Only the Playoffs Remain<\/h3>\n

With one award already gone and others slipping away, Joki\u0107 has one goal left \u2014 winning. The Nuggets are tied 1-1 in their first-round series against the Clippers. Joki\u0107 has played well in both games. He nearly had a triple-double in Game 1 with 29 points, 12 assists, and 9 rebounds. In Game 2, he recorded a full triple-double, but the team still lost.<\/p>\n

So far in the playoffs, he has five clutch points, five assists, and two rebounds. That keeps him among the league\u2019s best<\/a> in all three categories. But stats mean little if Denver exits early.<\/p>\n

Jokic\u2019s Greatness Deserves Recognition<\/h3>\n

Joki\u0107 doesn\u2019t campaign. He doesn\u2019t give sound bites to win awards. He just plays, and he dominates. That makes the recent Nikola Joki\u0107 snub all the more frustrating. Voters may simply be numb to his brilliance. They\u2019ve seen it so often that it no longer stands out.<\/p>\n

But history will remember this season. It should. Joki\u0107 played the game at a level few have ever reached. Whether voters catch up or not, he has one last platform to remind everyone of his greatness \u2014 the NBA playoffs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jalen Brunson is the face of the Knicks, and the NBA just gave him the Clutch Player of the Year award. He earned 70 of the 100 available first-place votes and appeared on nearly every ballot. Nikola Joki\u0107 came in second with just 26 first-place votes, while Anthony Edwards finished third. Brunson had an excellent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5018,"featured_media":136026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_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":[62,1608,20],"tags":[49979,50041,4874,1417,49195,596,72],"class_list":["post-136017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-nuggets","tag-2024-25-nba-season","tag-2025-nba-playoffs","tag-clutch-performances","tag-jalen-brunson","tag-nba-clutch-player-of-the-year","tag-nba-playoffs","tag-nikola-jokic"],"modified_by":"Frederick Okocha","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136017","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\/5018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136017"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136027,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136017\/revisions\/136027"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}