Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic has been the top player in the NBA for the last five seasons. Jokic has won several MVP awards, an NBA title, and an NBA Finals MVP as well.
During the 2024-25 season, the Nuggets were the fourth seed in the west and were eliminated against the Oklahoma City Thunder in game seven. The Thunder won the NBA title last season with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leading the way. Gilgeous-Alexander won MVP and NBA Finals MVP. Is Jokic a better player than Gilgeous-Alexander as the 2025-26 season approaches?
ESPN Has Denver Nuggets Nikola Jokic as the Top Ranked Player Entering the 2025-26 NBA Season
ESPN.com ranked its top 100 players for the upcoming 2025-26 season. Despite winning MVP in 2024-25, the Thunder superstar was ranked number two, and the Nuggets superstar was ranked number one. The reason why Shai won the MVP last season was because he was the best player on the best team and maybe there was some Jokic fatigue.
Ramona Shelburne of espn.com said,
"This is the second consecutive year Jokic has led ESPN's NBA Rank, and it's easy to see why. Yes, Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was a well-deserving winner of the league's regular-season and Finals MVP awards. And yes, he beat Jokic head-to-head in the playoffs. But even the Thunder will tell you that Jokic had some otherworldly games in that series, and they were fortunate to advance out of that fight of a second-round series."
Jokic last season averaged a triple-double per game. He averaged 29.6 PPG, 12.7 RPG, and 10.6 APG. It would not be a surprise to see him average a triple-double per game in 2025-26 once again.
As for Gilgeous-Alexander, he averaged 33.2 PPG, 5.2 RPG, and 6.5 APG. It would not be a surprise to see both of them in the MVP conversation once again this season. The Thunder will be one of the favorites to win the NBA title this season. They had a 68-14 record during the 2024-25 NBA season. If Oklahoma City gets the number one seed for the third straight season, it will be hard to not hand another MVP award to him.
If Denver were to be the number one or two seed in the west, Jokic is probably going to win another MVP award. The Thunder have a better roster than the Nuggets do. Also, these two players play different positions. Gilgeous-Alexander might be the best point guard in the NBA. The Nuggets center on the other hand is the best center in the game.
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