Nikola Joki\u0107 erupts for a season-high 55 points in a win vs. the LA Clippers.<\/p>\n
The 2019-20 NBA season<\/a> was best described as unusual, putting it mildly. It tested everyone and everything. After abruptly coming to a temporary halt in March due to the pandemic, the season resumed<\/a> in the Disney bubble and didn\u2019t end until early October, 355 days after it began the previous October.<\/p>\n Nobody noticed at the time \u2014 so much was happening all at once \u2014 but there was another strange development that in hindsight seems hard to believe:<\/p>\n Nikola Joki\u0107 wasn\u2019t a force to behold.<\/p>\n Good player? Absolutely, of course. He had a 30-20-10 game, a 22-rebound triple-double and a 47-point game. But: He didn\u2019t start in the All-Star Game<\/a>, wasn\u2019t First Team All-NBA<\/a>, averaged less than 20 points (19.9, but still), shot 31.4% on 3-pointers (he\u2019s at 41.7% this season), and it was Jamal Murray who shone for Denver in the playoffs, dropping 50 pieces.<\/p>\n Oh, and this: Not only did Joki\u0107 fail to win Kia MVP (Giannis Antetokounmpo did), he finished ninth in voting<\/a>.<\/p>\n We cite all the above to add perspective to what we\u2019ve witnessed ever since, and even now, how the 7-foot Nuggets center has embarked on a mammoth NBA takeover:<\/p>\n Three Kia MVPs, two runner-up finishes, and this week sitting comfortably at No. 1 on the Kia Race to the MVP Award.<\/p>\n This season is falling in step with the previous five for Joki\u0107. He\u2019s a triple-double machine, the best passing center ever and an elite scorer and rebounder. His footwork and hands are impeccably in sync, his court vision binocular-like and his appetite for winning is strong (Denver is 9-2).<\/p>\n Over an eight-day stretch, Joki\u0107 had a 55-point game<\/a>, a 33-15-16 game<\/a>, and scored 26 points without attempting a free throw. He\u2019s shooting 67% this season and leads the league in rebounds and assists<\/a>. He also just matched Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for the most points in a game. And of course, he\u2019s averaging a triple-double.<\/p>\n Which is to say, 2019-20 seems so very long ago. Prehistoric, even.<\/p>\n It\u2019s early in 2025-26, but the MVP Ladder is starting to wobble from the weight of Joki\u0107\u2019s performances.<\/p>\n Setting the stage this week: Speaking of weight, as if what he\u2019s carrying this season on his back isn\u2019t strenuous enough, Antetokounmpo (No. 3) will see a pair of ladder folk \u2014 Luka Don\u010di\u0107 and Donovan Mitchell \u2014 when the Bucks meet the Lakers and Cavaliers in the span of three nights.<\/p>\n The stat to know: Joki\u0107 is shooting 101-129 on two-pointers, which is roughly 78%.<\/p>\n What they are saying: \u201cHe\u2019s the most efficient basketball player I\u2019ve ever seen \u2026 please show me who else is out there that plays like this, at this efficient level offensively.\u201d \u2014 Nuggets coach David Adelman on Joki\u0107.<\/p>\n 1. Nikola Joki\u0107, Denver Nuggets<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s ranking:<\/a> No. 3<\/p>\n Season stats: <\/a>28.8 points, 13.1 rebounds, 10.9 assists<\/p>\n His case: It\u2019s the overall dominance and especially the efficiency \u2014 his season to date is unmatched. Joki\u0107 is a supreme basketball being, someone who makes the amazing look routine, and once again is flexing for everyone to see.<\/p>\n His double-nickel masterpiece Wednesday<\/a> \u2014 when he personally outscored the Clippers\u2019 starting five on the second leg of a road back-to-back \u2014 raised a curious if not silly question: Is Joki\u0107 on the verge of a breakout season? That\u2019s usually reserved for players in their early 20s searching for respectability, not someone with three MVPs. He might still have a high ceiling. Imagine if the last five seasons were just the appetizer for 2025-26. So scary. This will be fun to watch.<\/p>\n 2. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s ranking:<\/a> No. 1<\/p>\n Season stats:<\/a> 32.5 points, 6.6 assists, 1.3 steals<\/p>\n His case: Gilgeous-Alexander remains steady as they come, still doing work at a high level and occasionally needing only three quarters of sweat. He has rested for seven fourth quarters in 13 games, mainly because his work is done after three quarters. In those seven three-quarter games, he scored under 30 points just once.<\/p>\n Imagine if Gilgeous-Alexander played all 12 minutes of those missing fourth quarters \u2026 he\u2019d probably average close to 40 ppg. Yet he\u2019s still No. 2 in the NBA in scoring right now. One more thing: His 1.7 turnovers are comfortably low for a player who handles so much.<\/p>\n 3. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s ranking:<\/a> No. 2<\/p>\n Season stats:<\/a> 33.4 points, 11.9 rebounds, 6.2 assists<\/p>\n His case: Don\u2019t fault Antetokounmpo for the slippage from last week, as it is less about him and more about the intense competition on the Ladder. He remains a wrecking ball who\u2019s among the league scoring and rebound leaders and doing it all for the Bucks.<\/p>\n Antetokounmpo has scored below 30 points only twice in his 10 games and below 10 rebounds only four times. Once again, he\u2019s generating double-doubles almost nightly and doing so without a certified All-Star teammate, which means he\u2019s seeing plenty of double teams.<\/p>\n 4. Luka Don\u010di\u0107, Los Angeles Lakers<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s ranking:<\/a> No. 5<\/p>\n Season stats:<\/a> 34.9 points, 9.1 rebounds, 8.9 assists<\/p>\n His case: It was going to happen sooner or later \u2014 \u00a0Don\u010di\u0107 would finally qualify statistically once he stopped missing games. So now that he\u2019s healthy and \u2014 Lakers fingers crossed \u2014 back to being a fixture in the lineup, Don\u010di\u0107 can begin a move toward generating a serious MVP debate.<\/p>\n He has an outside chance of averaging a triple-double this season; much depends on what he generates once LeBron James returns and takes a share of the ball-handling chores. Nonetheless, this is shaping up so far as a typical season for Don\u010di\u0107.<\/p>\n 5. Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s ranking:<\/a> No. 4<\/p>\n Season stats:<\/a> 26.2 points, 13 rebounds, 3.6 blocks.<\/p>\n His case: That was a bit of a concern, wasn\u2019t it, when Wembanyama delivered a pair of meh performances last week. Normally, that wouldn\u2019t penalize a player on the ladder, but these aren\u2019t normal times; the competition is fierce.<\/p>\n His response was forceful: Wembanyama became the first player in NBA history<\/a> with the single-game stat line of 35-plus points, 10-plus rebounds, five-plus assists, five-plus blocks and five-plus 3-pointers in a demolition of the Bulls. That outcome was secured when Wemby crossed up defenders on a pair of threes in the final minute. Then he had a 31-point triple-double against the Warriors. We should mention he\u2019s 7-foot-4. Or maybe 7-foot-5.<\/p>\n The next 5:<\/p>\n 6. Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons And five more (listed alphabetically): Deni Avdija, Portland Trail Blazers; Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns; Kevin Durant, Houston Rockets; Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves; Austin Reaves, Los Angeles Lakers<\/p>\n * * *<\/p>\n Shaun Powell has covered the NBA since 1985. You can e-mail him at\u00a0spowell@nba.com<\/a>, find\u00a0his archive here<\/a>\u00a0and follow him on\u00a0X<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nikola Joki\u0107 erupts for a season-high 55 points in a win vs. the LA Clippers. The 2019-20 NBA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284054,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,164102,590,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-284053","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-kia-mvp-ladder-nov-14","11":"tag-nba","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
7. Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers
8. Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia 76ers
9. Alperen Sengun, Houston Rockets
10. Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks<\/p>\n