National Basketball Association

Does Nikola Jokic deserve back-to-back NBA MVP awards?

Updated Mar. 18, 2022 5:37 p.m. ET

Nikola Jokić is nearing a milestone only achieved by the NBA's all-time greats.

The Denver Nuggets' big man is in the midst of another dominant season filled with impressive statistics. He leads the NBA in efficiency rating and ranks in the top 10 in points (28.2), assists (8.1) and rebounds (13.8). He currently stands as second-favorite to win his second-straight MVP award, according to FOX Bet.

Only 12 players have ever won consecutive NBA MVP awards and Nick Wright argued on "What’s Wright? with Nick Wright" that Jokić earning this elite distinction would place him in a caste of NBA players he doesn’t belong with.

"If [back-to-back MVP winners] all got together, and they were hanging out in a room," Wright said, "does Jokić get to hang out with Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar], Michael [Jordan] LeBron [James] and Magic [Johnson] or is he over in the other corner with Steve Nash like, ‘I don't know how I got in here either?'"

Nikola Jokić doesn't belong in elite group of back-to-back MVP's I What's Wright

As the NBA MVP race heats up, Nick Wright argues why Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokić doesn't belong in the special group of back-to-back MVP winners.

Jokić has compiled one of the most impressive stat lines in recent NBA memory, but his numbers are inflated by a burly usage rate — the second-highest among all NBA centers — and limited competition for scoring opportunities due to injuries to Michael Porter Jr. and Jamal Murray.

The Nuggets are sixth in the Western Conference with a 42-28 record, but Wright argues that leading a team to mediocrity doesn’t merit an MVP award.

"It was just five years ago," Wright said. "The six seed in the West, one guy with the ball in his hands the whole game. He had unbelievable numbers, averaged a triple-double, and he won the MVP. That was Russell Westbrook. This year, it’s Jokić.

"He has unbelievable numbers for a team that's not winning that much. All MVPs, aside from Russ, in my lifetime, have been on winning teams … teams that have real championship aspirations. … The Nuggets do not."

Wright also objected to the notion that the MVP award should exist in a vacuum, pointing to the discourse around Nash’s bid for a third-straight MVP award. After winning back-to-back trophies in 2004-05 and 2005-06, Nash posted a career-high in effective field-goal percentage and assists while totaling 18.6 points per game.

However, Wright recalled that voters understood the historical implications of Nash winning three-consecutive MVP awards.

"Nash won back-to-back MVPs, and the third year of his run, by any metric, was his best year. Did he win? No. Because voters were like, ‘Come on, three straight MVPs? Only [Larry] Bird, Wilt [Chamberlain] and [Bill] Russell have done that, we're not putting Nash on that list.’"

As the MVP race narrows to just a few names, will the writers heed Wright’s warning about the award’s implications?