Honestly, I dont get this Jokic disrespect. Whenever Jokic is the clear frontrunner or about to win MVP, they find someone who would also deserve it but not as much as Jokic.

Jokic would be so happy if Luka won the MVP though

Joker has been the MVP 4 years straight as far as I'm concerned.

Jokic is clearly the best player in the league. He plays unselfish, winning hoops at the highest level.

He made an excellent point on why Luka should be ahead of Tatum in the voting, but that’s it...

I don't know why people always want to downplay Jokic's '22 MVP when it was one of the greatest seasons by a player statistically. First of all he had recorded the highest PER ever. And besides all his insane offensive numbers, he also had a better defensive rating than Giannis and Embiid. Jokic actually had a better individual winning % than the other candidates, the only reason his record wasn't better was because the depleted Nuggets were an abysmal 2-6 without him(on top of losing every game he left early from injury or ejection), meanwhile the other candidates' teams still had a winning record without them. Even then, Jokic had his team within 1 or 2 games of Giannis and Embiid's teams pretty much the whole year, Luka hasn't had his team anywhere near Jokic, SGA or Giannis' teams despite having Kyrie.

The problem for me is not that Jimmy don't respect Jokic, I think it comes from his take on why now the NBA has this numbers on scoring, for him the answer is that the players are too talented, that is another flaw in his arguments if you ask me. In general terms I like his arguments, but in this case I don't and the reason for that is not because of the lack of logic or numbers, but, a mistake on critical thinking. His argument was that today's offense is so good that is imposible to stop it, but in the same video he made a colossal mistake, he argues that the reason for that is not the rule changes or the lack of defense, but just that the new players learn from the past and perfected the offensive game. But, this could be also true for defense, it's a no brainer, if offense can be perfected also defense can be perfected, but Jimmy didn't put that on the table, he talks in his last video about "we're done with the 90's" that the players now a days are better because they have practiced a lot the perfection of the movements and strategies of the past (I agree with this), but also because the rules now a days allow you to do movements that in those days were imposible to do, so it's also a product of the rules of the time (and I also agree with this), but that's exactly the point on this case, defense now a days is trying to survive the modern rules of the NBA, not evolving like offense is doing. So, Luca is an amazing player yes, but like you said, he take advantage on the rules conditions of the NBA, Luca himself admit that in an interview some days ago, but Jimmy don't want to see that 'cause it would be a case against his argument.

When he showed the stats of Luka and Tatum. 😂😂😂

Damn Uncut Hoops, don't you get tired of shutting up Lebum's male cheerleaders? 🤣🤣🤣

problem with jokic is you need to have at least some ball knowledge to understand how great he is

People forget that Steven Adams led the league in screen assists, offensive rebounds, AND boxouts that season. He created more opportunities and space for russ than ever before.

the real difference is that luka has the highest usage rate ever (how long you hold the ball on offense), but jokic is not even top 20! that is so incredible, that jokic is able to do what he does and he doesn’t even hold the ball for as long as 20-25 other guys in the nba. there are only 30 teams… jokic’s league best on-off point differential, and the nuggets being the 1 seed are obviously also important points

As a big Madrid fan, I love Luka. Big fan of the man, he is a great player. Niko is still more dominant this year.

Its crazy that Jokic has been accused of stat padding. If he was stat padding, he would have been averaging 35 pts per game rather than less than 30. Also, the same people who accused Jokic of stat padding also overlook how other players like Lebron have literally been caught looking at stat sheets during blowout losses.

luka is amazing, but jokic is just as amazing with the first seed in the west. it's just unfortunate he chose to go ballistic during one of the toughest MVP races ever (shai, giannis, joker and luka all putting up historic seasons) so you have to split hairs somewhere.

The over all premise is that Luka should win MVP (if Jokic didn't exist).. But Jokic does exist and is the most valuable.. It's called MOST valuable player of the league. I think Luka is phenomenal! I feel like Jimmy's argument is close to the same that was used for Embiid last year. "But look how good he is!!" Yeah we see how amazing a lot of the players are, but are they truly the "most" valuable player of the entire league for that season?

The only reason the Mavs record is worse is because of injuries, and his supporting cast beyond Kyrie has been absolute garbage. Imagine if he had Gafford and Washington throughout the year?

Thank you for spitting facts @UncutHoops!

I love both Luka and Jokic plays.

As a Lakers Fan. When Jokic destroys you like this in a sweep and then beat you every game, not much you can say. Im sure most people think AD is a really good defender but look how Jokic can cook him. He is too much a team player to chase stats otherwise it would be a wrap. Denver is the 1 Seed and if we make it through the play in we play them lol

Jokic might f around and become the third best player ever behind mj and kobe. We’ll see

I’m sick of the “He already won the award so he is lowered this year”. If you’re the best player for 10 years, then 10 mvps

He's one of the best all-around players I've ever seen. If he wins another MVP and another chip he'll be top 10

Season isn't over....these declarative notions about seeding with teams 1 game apart are exhausting.

Sounds like Jimmy is admitting this era of basketball is shit. But wasn’t he saying the players now are so much more skilled????

I wholeheartedly agree that Jokic is clear MVP but Doncic is also a clear second and not that much behind of Jokic. What i think Jimmy is trying to say is that team success should be less weighted. Most valuable player should be who is making the biggest impact on their team. Dallas is severely underperforming when Luka is not playing and he is putting up insane numbers. That is what the conversation should be about. Who is the best player and making the most impact on the team. Tatum is putting up good numbers for an example but Boston is actually having better numbers when he is on the field, stats can be very misleading if not used in the right context. Good video overall tho!

Dallas being an 8th seed is kinda not true, they're 7th in fact, and their conference is so stacked together that every game makes a difference. The other hidden metric of impact is the fact that, not only the mvp should elevate it's team, but his team should also elevate its mvp, which the Nuggets do better than Dallas, since most of the bench and even some starters are not really consistent and have more downs than ups. In the end is hard to measure ofc, and Jxmy I believe is not underestimating Jokic case for mvp, but the fact Luka being in 5th/6th place is ludicrous. That said, Luka is still young, he will have more chances... unless Wemby kinda starts sweeping every award there is.

Jokic in 2022 was 2/3 wins behind Embiid and Giannis with a G league teammates who don't even play in the NBA anymore while Embiid/Giannis were on stacked teams. He actually won more games then them as he played more than them. This season Luka is 9 wins behind Jokic while also playing 7 games less...as much as I love Luka there is absolutely no argument for him over Jokic this season.

Acting like Luka's team has been healthy this season is crazy. Most injured team other than Grizzlies and Heat.

I agree joker is mvp but the Luka disrespect is getting crazy. Dude improved his defense and is putting up generational numbers, I’m not sure what else he can do

Jimmy = Lebby Stan. Take anything he says with a grain of salt. He edits real nice tho! 😂

I miss the days when we praised guys for lifting their teams to victory. Who else is tired of meaningless point scoring.

I watch every Jxmy video that comes out religiously, but the problem with that video in particular is that he compares Luka's numbers to everybody and everything in the last 40 years EXCEPT for Jokic's numbers this year. Luka lead the league in PPG...Jokic leads the league in EVERY SINGLE ADVANCED OFFENSIVE METRIC that is measured. It's not even close when you looks at their numbers side by side which is the ONE thing that Jxmy didn't do.

I agree with most things you said, but you didn't mention the fact that Kyrie missed a lot of games this season, same as Kleber, Exum and the fact that with that roster, without Kyrie, I think Dallas are easily the worst team in the whole league. And Luka had to long time with players like that before Kyrie returning back and being more consistent. Soo maybe these Dallas are better than OKC Thunder in 2017 with Kyrie, but the point is they weren't always with Kyrie and when Kyrie wasn't on the court... This team was definitely worse than OKC in 2017 ao I definitely think Luka is playing more impressive basketball this season than Westbrook in 2017. He doesn't average triple double, but averages almost a triple double, he averages 4 points more than Westbrook and his overall efficiency are waay better than Westbrook.

To be fair my man, the Mavs have dealt with the most injuries this year and has played the most lineups due to it and Luka is still 34 points, 9 rebounds now 10 assists on crazy good shooting splits based on his attempts. He actually has an argument for being an outlier, because he already is, but he also at least HAS to be a top 5'ish seed and have like two extraordinary performances to go.

Nararative is aslo very important. In 2017. When Westbrook won the MVP, not only did he avarage 30 point triplr double, but becouse KD left him in summer of 3016. Everyone frlt bad for Russ, yet carried OKC to 6th seed in tough western conference. When Jokif eon the MVP in 2022. as 6th seed, hie 2nd (Jamal) and 3rd (MPJ) best players were injured for a WHOLE season, and yet Nikola lead his monstars maed out of Monte Morris, Will Barton, 35 y/o Jeff Green, Gordon, (Austin Rivers, Facundo Campazzo, Ja Mxchal Green, Bones Hyland, Davon Reed, Zeke Naji and Bryn Forbes bench) to 48 wine and 6th seed. That same season top seeds in the east eere Heat with 53 wins and Celtics, Bucks, 76ers with 51 wins each, while in the west Sune had 64 eins with Booker and CP3 and Grizzlies had 56 wins ( Mavs were 4th seed with 52 wins). Out of all of those teams, the only players seen as a threat for MVP were Embiid and Giannis and their teams only had 3 wins more than injury riddled Nuggets. So, the Narrative was if Nikola had his boys to play alongside with, Denver would've been top 2 seed (which they proved in thr following 2022/23 season)

Bro you make the videos with the most context, I watch every video you make. I don’t know why you don’t make more. Keep ‘em coming cause I use ur context when I’m debating with the young heads.

luka and nikola are from the same tribe .we woud not be mad if one or the other win this y.

As a Luka fan, Jokic is the MVP. I just don't like when others are put above Luka. Should be 1. Jokic 2. Luka 3. SGA 4. Giannis 5. Tatum

When you think of value on the basketball court Jokic is easily the most valuable. He has the stats, and when it comes to advanced stats he clearls Luka by a wide margin, and on top of that he has the impact on winning, leading his team to the #1 seed in the stacked west. As much as I really love Luka, this is not a real conversation.

Nailed it. Great work! Keep it up.

I love your objectivity and the say you put context into content. Jimmy gets caught up in the numbers a bit too much at times.

I like when Uncut Hoops punches up. They are his most compelling videos

Looking at the seeding in the west is stupid . Mavs could be #6 #5 in 3 games . They had TONS of injuries in the beginning. And Luka carried this team. Jokic won as a #6 seed

Its Sabonis that is getting the disrespect. Double Double machine and didn't make the All Star Roster? He should be 2nd or 3rd in MVP carrying Sac to the playoffs.

I do agree with some things you have to say but there is a couple flaws I noticed. First flaw in your argument, your not accounting all the injuries the mavs had at the beginning of the season and especially kyrie which resulted in alot of losses. Second flaw you say that you can’t consider luka for mvp because he’s the 8 seed but what your not accounting is how competitive the west is and how close the 5th - 8th seed are. As of this very moment the mavs just blew out the kings 132 - 96 and are currently sitting at the 6th seed, same as 2022 jokic and 2017 westbrook. I’m not saying luka deserves mvp over jokic but he should atleast be 2nd.

Great takes as usual

Luka Magic has played all season with tons of injuries. He’s carried the team on his shoulders and they’re about to move into 6th place. That’s an MVP to me.

Never thought I'd see Uncut mention Jimmy Highroller😂. I love both of you but I was wondering when you'd make a video on his takes. Today was the day😆

yet talks about what luka has on the team when the team had injuries and they didn't play as full team but only talks about jokic that he had no help and he had injured teammates... jokic is one of the greates can't argue with that but it is strange how MVP actualy works

Sorry I disagree with you Luka is MVP. Also seeding doesnt matter, how many wins you have matters. Mavs could get 50 wins and end up the 5th or 6th seed because of how stacked the west is. Once again, Win/Loss is what matters not seeding.

The argument against Luka due to record needs to take in account that these key players have missed this many games: Kyrie (22), Lively (19) Josh Green (18), Exum (26), Kleber (37), THJ (0). Key Denver players have missed this many games: Murray (19), MPJ (1), Gordon (7), KCP (6), Jackson (0), Braun(0). OKC has also been one of the least injured teams in the league. There's a decent chance the Mavs can get to 4th and might have been 3rd or higher had they not been so injury prone.

Luca is undoubtedly already one of the greatest players ever to play in the NBA. MVP won’t change that…

it's always funny how assists highlights are filled with jokic's plays. way too effortless for him it's amazing

The people who favour Luka view points, rebounds and assists as the only statistical measure

If you look at the advanced stats the only person who is close to Jokic is Giannis

it wasn't close last year, yet the voters managed to fumble the ball you remember the clown who didn't even put jokic on his ballot... as ANY place

Joker should have 4 M.V.P. in a row!😊

You fail to debunk the arguments. Lukas combined production was not compared only to Karem, and players 30 years ago, as you said The comparison was against the average combined production of ALL MVPs, where Luka was second all time. Those players of 30 years ago just happen to be second. You can see Lebron and other people down in the list. Your argument on Luka having inflated numbers is also failed. You suggested that Jokic and Russell won MVP because their teams having a more modest roster as compared to Dallas. But you never brought Dallas's roster production, only that of Denver and OKC. Save for Kyre, is hard to argue Luka has had more help than Jokic and Russell had. But even if so, your argument is entirely subjective as there are no stats to back up the claim that Luka inflated his numbers while Jokic and Russell didn't. There is also no evidence to prove that those two contributed more to their teams winning games. It is ridiculous Luka is fifth in the MVP race. With Embid out on injury, Luka's numbers are the best from an individual contribution standpoint, and it is true at least two MVPs have been in teams with similar winning percentage. Moreover, the question your competitor brings to the table remains: is this an award to the best player? An award to the best player in the best team? Is an interesting question. The name been Most Valuable Player, strictly speaking, it should go to the player that has the highest relative weight on his team success ratio. So it shouldn't go to the best player in the best team necessarily, because said team may have other important players contributing of said success. It shouldn't go to the best player neither, because that may not be good enough to ensure success. That is why for example, Steve Nash winning MVP over Kobe was not an error, as many people suggest. The question should be then which player has the highest relative weight, on his team, and has resulted in a successful season. Successful season should also be relative, since is not the same for Boston or Denver to make it to the playoffs, than Dallas. For a team that didn't make it to the playoffs, doing so as the 8 seed may be a successful season. For the NBA champion to rank 3rd it may not be so In the end, chances are than indeed Jokic may have a higher relative weight than Luka. But Luka been fifth, it is indeed, ridiculous

Best player in the world.

MVP means "most VALUABLE player". You can have all the stats you want, but if your performance isn't providing VALUE to your team, they are empty stats. And guess how you determine value to a team? That's right: actually WINNING games.

As a Mavs fan, I completely agree .. joker should be getting his 4th straight MVP right now

Great video! Also first.

I think the biggest part of this that I haven’t heard anyone bring up is the difference in records in the west, not saying Luka should win it bc of his his but it’s worth considering, the Mavs are the 7th seed with 42 wins at the moment the Thunder are the second seed with 49 wins, that is a much smaller gap than most years and I think it’s a bit of context to consider. It’s not like the Mavs are rolling into the playin with a .500 record this is a team that is still capable of making it to a 50 win season (especially when you consider how easy the Mavs schedule is for the rest of the season)

Jokic winning MVP is more than deserved. I would not mind if they gave it to SGA.

Pretty telling that everyone agrees this era is more stacked with talent than ever - and yet we'd all kinda be surprised if Jokic didn't at least make the finals this year despite not having a superstar teammate. That tells me he's him.

kendick alliterates, assonates, and consonates with crickets... the sound of silence

I am sorry to say but I have to respectfully disagree with some of the arguments. 1. The Russell/Jokic argument: All true BUT just like you always say yourself Uncut Hoops, keep the same standard for Luka. Just like The Joker in 2022 his co star missed out on a huge number of games. The argument could be made, that the Mavs would fight for a Top 3 seed in the west right now hadn’t Kyrie missed so many games. 2. Team success is more important: 100% agree but if we were only going by that measurement we all would have to agree that Russ and the Joker didn’t deserve their MvP either. 3. The voter fatigue argument. 100% I agree it is misleading and yes 50+ point contribution isn’t anything, especially as it doesn’t account for defense. However one thing that definitely is clear is that while the Joker wasn’t popular with some of the people voting ( especially those from Espn Clutch Sports) luka seems to be downright hated by them. If it wasn’t for TNT you wouldn’t even know the man plays in the league, SAS in particular tries his hardest to minimize any success of Luka at all times.

Man, you’re good. You made the exact points I made on his video. It’s not just about stats. It’s how you use them

Jokic gets hate because he's been the best player the last 3 yrs, and the fact that he swept LBJ last year made it worse with the pro LBJ pundits

The MVP corelates heavily with Season Win Shares and Player Efficiency Rating. Luka is in 5th and 4th place, respectively. If you look at LeBron's 5 year stretch of Win Share leads, he won 4 MVPs. MJ had a stretch of 9 seasons of Win Share dominance (broken up by a couple years during his first retirement) and he only won 5 MVPs. Kareem also had a stretch of 9 years where he ended up winning 6 MVPs. Right now, Jokic is on a 4-year stretch of Win Share leads, and he's going to win. No one is being unfair to Luka. This has been the standard for decades. There have been exceptions (Nash playing the game the way the NBA top brass set out to enact through rule changes in early 2000s and Westbrook for averaging a triple double), but the trend is still there. Highroller got this one wrong. It happens.

I don't think people expect Luka to win as an 8th seed, even at the release of this video, Mavs were already back at 6th seed, making this immediately outdated. The difference between 4th and 8th in the West is just 1 or 2 games, holding onto that right now makes no sense at all. The argument for Luka for MVP only matters if at least he can stay out of the play-in, saying that RIGHT now they are Xth seed or Yth seed with the seeding changing day-by-day is quite pointless.

I am not a big joker fan but he clearly the mvp

I still think you're right on the fact that Jokic should win but the mavs are the 5th seed now. I think it's actually a lot closer than most of us would like to admit, Luka does so much for his team.

There have only been 5 MVPS not be a top 2 seed since the Merger.. Jokic in 22 who had no Murray. Russ in 17 who lost KD and averaged a TD Jordan in 88 as a 3 seed. Moses in 82 they were the 3 seed but had a top 2 record because they were 2nd in their division and Kareem in 76 they missed the playoffs. You're not going to give MVP to a player with similar stats on a superior seed

I like Jimmy's videos and I even watched this one and was honestly thinking like this is such a reach. Everything you just said in this video I was thinking to myself the same exact things. There's a reason why hes not on top of the MVP leaderboard and it's no disrespect to him. It's just that other players are doing better and have more impact right now. I get that Luka is averaging 30 and almost the triple-double, but so is Jokic, so that already destroys his whole case.

Your last statement is bonkers. If someone’s scoring 50 points a game and has at least decent defense, there shouldn’t be even one person not voting for them. 8th seed is completely irrelevant at that point. That player would be the best player. Period.

I agree 100 percent with you! To me there is 2 reasons to put up with all the negativity you get no matter who you are in professionals sports if you the best they hate you cause they jealous and always trying to bring you down and if you bad they always want to get rid of you ...And those 2 reasons are MONEY ...ANd Championships! I am a celtics guy and i believe tatum deserves to be up there because we have been dominate in the east and the joker is my number one as well and i hate saying that cause i want to see the MVP back in green but I can only go with stats to start the convo then wins to finish it...THen in the off there a tie i go with what you brought up how much of the offense are they of the team during the wins and when they are not playing and so forth! Great break down!

The Joker and the DENVER NUGGETS coached by LeBALCO’s daddy- Coach Mike Malone, have seemingly picked up where Kevin Durant and the GS Warriors left off in 2018. 🔥

I'll take Luka over Joker any day. Probably the only player I'd pick over Jokic. Luka can control the game better than anybody.

I feel bad for Luka. He had to put insane numbers just to win a game against average opponents. But this team is no longer the same team as it was for the last 5 seasons. We finally have a center or two. I think we're on 8-1 win-loss ratio or something, including win over Denver.

Why would you hang your argument on the Mavs being the 8th seed when that part of the standings is so fluid? The better question to ask is... How high in the standings would the Mavericks need to rise to change your mind? If they stay hot, 5th is possible. And if the Clippers free fall worsens then who knows about 4th.

I agree that Luka doesn't get enough love from the media as he ought to, but JxmmyHighroller's case for Luka being MVP was completely flawed. As you rightfully pointed out, Jokic and Westbrook's supporting cast in their MVP season were basically trash yet they managed to keep them off the play-in tournament and have all time great individual statistics, Westbrooks 42triple doubles in one season, and Jokic breaking every advanced stat in 2022. Luka has Kyrie, and the most efficient two point shooter in the game in Daniel Gafford, his team should be way higher. Yes he leads the league in scoring, but he's shooting less than 50% and is 2nd in the league in turnovers, I'm sorry but that's not MVP. Jokic is leading the league in BPM, OBPM, VORP, PER, Win Shares, Offensive Win Shares, and is the only player in top 6 in TOTAL points, rebounds and assists, while being first in his conference. It's not hating on Luka, right now, Jokic is just the best candidate.

Embid knows he got a Title he didn’t deserve

Jokic downright the best player in the world rn and if they reach the finals Celtics will “choke” in the eyes of media.. as a mavs fans I don’t wanna see any bit of Denver in the playoffs

Jokic is the MVP

It should be rebranded as MPP (Most Popular Player)........Value is an old fashion word....Value to increase ur team in the WIN's category. As an old long tooth fan....I remember Bird losing out to Jordan in 88'....

we are yet to see what luka and kyrie are in the playoffs yet. it’s gonna be scary don’t let narratives fool you

In this tight situation..i always recall to Wilt VS Bill..one Had crazy stats other one went for win and to elevate team..Jokić=Russell in that regard..and Luka,Giannis Joel Are in Wilt sphere..great individualas But not raising teammates..ofc they Can win ring but as for regular season MVP Jokić do more overall stats and non stats

Wvhy not Luka being an MVP, imo Joker is definitely winning this year and im a big Jokic fan but if Luka is not winning it then he is definitely a close 2nd, 35-9-10 on ridiculous shooting and his team are now 6th seed and 2 games behind 4th seed if Embiid, Joker and Russ won it as a 4th and 6th seed respectfully why not Luka too and also Curry was a legit MVP candidate in 21' as a 8th seed

Jokic getting a third MVP will be the worst thing that’s ever happened to the NBA. It will really solidify this era of the NBA being one-sided and not two way like the game is supposed to be.

Mavs being the 8th seed isnt a flaw in his MVP case if you add the context that the Mavs were 1 of the most wrecked teams by injuries this year and the absolute domination that has happened after he finally got a healthy team...

Would be going for 4 except that mental 5 year old Kendrick Perkins made voters nervous

Luka Dončić: are you challenging me bro???

Uncut Hoops dropping Jimmy's name!

Comparing only On/Off numbers for Luka and Jokic is very misleading. Denver has a way better starting 5 (even after the trade, Nuggets starting 5 is still above Mavs). Mavs have a better bench and with Kidd staggering minutes between Luka and Kyrie to always keep one on the court, Mavs second unit is better than Nuggets second unit. Before the trade, Luka always had to play with the weaker unit because he could carry them and Kyrie usually had a better unit. It's only after the trade deadline have the Mavs starting 5 been dominating. Anyways, my point is the only using On/Off numbers to say Jokic is better than Luka is a trash argument because for most of the season Luka was playing with a weaker unit to keep them afloat while Nuggets have the best starting 5 in the league.

You can be the best individual player statistically, but whether those stats eventually mean success to your team is, I think, one of the factors that determine the season MVP. Great stats become meaningless if the do not translate to overall team success.

I love your videos and your NBA takes but I don’t know how many more “so, stopping it right there” I can take bro… Can we please do something about those? Maybe once a video?

I admire all of the top players - any of them are worthy as MVP. As a Nuggets fan I want another title and don't care who wins the MVP. Jokic doesn't care who wins the MVP - he is focused on winning another title.

If Luka has this tan the whole year they’d be higher but his stats would even out at least a little