Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is the favorite to win the 2023-24 NBA MVP Award no matter what sportsbook you look at, and that’s for very good reason. Jokic the best player on the best team in the NBA — I can already hear Celtics fans with their thick Boston accents yelling, “Yo kid, what about the Celts? No respect for the best team in the league, bro? Seventeen bannuhs and we’re about to hang numbuh eighteen!” And hey, I hear ya. The Celtics are awesome. Jayson Tatum is awesome. And your accent is awesome, despite what some folks may say. But the Nuggets are the defending NBA champs, they’ve defeated Boston twice already this season, and no matter what the records say, they’re the best team in the league.

And now if it didn’t already feel like a foregone conclusion, because Nikola Jokic was active last night in Denver’s win over Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs, he’s officially reached the 65-game threshold that’s required for players to be eligible for end of season awards.

Nuggets' Nikola Jokic still getting better - The Japan Times

The NBA’s newly imposed 65-game threshold has been a hot topic all year along, with most folks speaking out against the rule, and even going as far as blaming it for potentially causing Joel Embiid’s midseason injury, as well as Karl-Anthony Towns’. I’ll steer clear of that one for now… it’s not the time or place. What it is time for it to begin the coronation of Nikola Jokic into the 3 MVP club, which is so exclusive that only eight of the NBA’s greatest players — Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Moses Malone, LeBron James, Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — are members. Jokic is well on his way to becoming the first new member since LeBron James entered in 2012.

For the season, Jokic is averaging 26.0 points, 12.2 rebounds, and 9.1 assists. He’s recorded 21 triple-doubles, and for the fourth consecutive season, he will lead the NBA in PER, improving upon his 28.0 career PER, which is the highest of any player in NBA history.