For the second season in a row, the race for MVP has consistently been a back-and-forth heat between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic. Even following Monday's regular season series finale between the OKC Thunder and Denver Nuggets, it seems that it's still a toss-up when it comes to who should be considered the favorite.
With Jokic and co. pulling out the 140-127 win at Paycom Center, the two ball clubs have officially finished with two wins apiece in head-to-head contests.
While in some ways this could be viewed in a positive light, for no team wound up coming away with the upper hand, it's also somewhat of a negative because neither did either of their MVP contenders.
To Nuggets headman Michael Malone, the conversations regarding how close the race is between Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander are viewed as rather ridiculous, as he mentioned postgame that, in his eyes, there's only one reason why his franchise centerpiece is not currently running away with the award.
Voter fatigue pinpointed as primary reason Thunder star could win MVP
Though he did acknowledge in his assessment of the MVP race that the Thunder star is "a great player" and that, if he does ultimately win, "he's deserving of that," coach Malone stressed that if one were to blindly look at both Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokic's numbers on the year, he believes the latter would be seen as the unquestioned favorite to take home the Michael Jordan Trophy.
"If you didn't know Nikola won three MVPs, and I put Player A and Player B on paper, and you had no idea that the guy who's averaging a triple-double, the guy who's top three in the three major statistical categories, things that no one's ever done, he wins the MVP 10 times out of 10," Malone said.
Malone would cap off his argument by playfully telling reporters that "If you don't think so I think you're all full of sh*t," which, to a certain extent, is a fair point.
Jokic is doing things no other player, not even Oklahoma City's beloved former triple-double machine and 2017 MVP Russell Westbrook, has ever done in the history of the game with his nightly efforts and is undeniably playing at a better rate than any one of his past three MVP seasons.
However, while coach Malone may have a legitimate point, the ironic part of this all is that he's also revealing arguably the strongest case for why the Thunder star is seen by many as the MVP favorite.
Said case: voter fatigue!
In layman's terms, this expression revolves around the idea that voters are more likely to favor newer candidates in an awards race over an incumbant or consistent winner.
Throughout recent history, this phenomenon has become more prevalent than ever, with Jokic himself arguably becoming the latest victim when he lost out to Joel Embiid in the 2023 race after having won the previous two.
Now, voter fatigue is far from the driving factor in why many, such as NBA insider Brian Windhorst, believe the Thunder star "is in the lead by a lot."
After all, he's the game's top scorer (32.7 points per game) on the top-seed in the Western Conference (53-12), leads the league in net rating (16.9), plus-minus (+12.6), and win shares (14.2), and ranks second among starters with a minimum of 30 games played in defensive rating (105.3).
That said, in many ways, it could be viewed as perhaps the strongest case for why Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is not only a primary contender to dethrone the reigning MVP but, as of this moment, the favorite to do so.
Frankly, considering how many people were critical of the Thunder cornerstone's second-place finish in the race last year, 2025 may be seen as a year for voters to right this perceived wrong.