Former Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone made headlines this week as he tapped Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as the rightful MVP. All over social media, fans have expressed shock at the comments, and some even came to Jokic's defense, like former head coach George Karl, who went viral for a recent statement on X.
"Jokic was the MVP again this season, and it wasn’t that close," wrote Karl. "But I guess I’m the only former Nuggets coach who knows that."
When he was coaching the Nuggets, Michael Malone was constantly pushing Nikola Jokic's MVP campaign, but things have been different ever since he was relieved of his coaching duties. Despite winning a championship with the Nuggets and helping Jokic secure three MVPs, Malone lost his place with the team after a falling out with GM Calvin Booth caused major division within the franchise.
Malone has only been off the job for a few weeks, but he's already landed a new role in the media, and he is not going to play favorites. For Malone, his only loyalty is to himself now, and that gives him the freedom to speak with total honesty on the MVP conversation -- even if many people think he's wrong.
With averages of 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 10.2 assists per game on 57.6% shooting this season, Nikola Jokic had a strong case to win MVP, and ex-Nuggets coach George Karl is just one of many who believe he should have won it this year over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He led the Nuggets to the fourth-best record in the West at 50-32 while averaging a triple and leading the league in offensive win shares (12.7), box plus/minus (13.3), and player efficiency rating (32.0).
Still, despite Jokic's impressive numbers, Shai was crowned as the NBA's official MVP winner this season, and you can't hold it against the voters with the Thunder superstar ranking first in points as he led his team to 68 wins. Still, Jokic wasn't too far behind, and he would have easily won if SGA hadn't put together such a spectacular season. In the official ballot, Jokic received 29 first-place votes and 71 second-place votes, totaling 787 points for second place in MVP voting. He was only beaten by SGA, who finished with 913 points.
Winning MVP this year would have been historic for the Joker, who has already won the award three times in his career (2021, 2022, 2024). With voters' fatigue a major factor in the ballot, fans knew not to expect another MVP for Jokic, but what they didn't expect was for one of Jokic's longtime coaches to advocate for his rival to win the award instead.
In a now-viral moment on television, the former Nuggets coach (who was fired in April) credited SGA as the MVP while calling Thunder fans the best in the league. It was a truly jarring moment considering OKC is responsible for knocking the Nuggets out of the playoffs this year, and that Shai was the only reason why Jokic didn't win his fourth MVP.
As a neutral observer now, Michael Malone doesn't have to pretend to like Nikola Jokic anymore, but he still has plenty of others ready to defend his legacy. George Karl is just one of those allies, and he knows more than most just how special the Joker really is.
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