Former Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone, who the franchise fired days before the 2025 NBA playoffs opened, raised eyebrows when he stumped for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander over Nikola Jokić for the NBA MVP award. It was under Malone’s tutelage that Jokić won each of his three MVP honors in 2021, 2022 and 2024, but the coach who oversaw his rise as perhaps the greatest active basketball player in the world instead sided with the Oklahoma City Thunder star in this year’s award race.
Malone said after Game 1 of the Western Conference finals that Gilgeous-Alexander “showed why he’s the MVP.” George Karl, who preceded Malone as a decorated Nuggets coach in his own right, disagreed with the assessment of the MVP battle.
“Jokic was the MVP again this season and it wasn’t that close,” Karl said in a social media post. “But I guess I’m the only former Nuggets coach who knows that.”
Gilgeous-Alexander is the perceived frontrunner for the 2025 MVP and delivered a stellar performance in Tuesday’s conference finals opener with 31 points, including 20 in the second half, en route to a 114-88 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. That Malone propped him up as the best player in the league, though, came as a surprise considering he touted Jokić just over two months ago in a similar regard.
“Obviously, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a great player, and if he wins his first MVP, he’s deserving of that,” Malone said on March 11. “My thing is this: If you didn’t know that Nikola won three MVPs, and I put Player A and Player B on paper … the guy that was averaging a triple-double, the guy that is top-three in the three major statistical categories, things that no one has ever done, he wins the MVP 10 times out of 10.”
Jokić, Gilgeous-Alexander and Giannis Antetokounmpo are the three finalists for this season’s honor. Gilgeous-Alexander leads the trio in scoring with his 32.7 points per game while Jokić averaged a triple-double and Antetokounmpo was not far behind with a double-double average.
If Gilgeous-Alexander breaks through and earns the hardware, it will mark the first individual league award win of his career. The Thunder star is also a two-time All-NBA First Team honoree. Another Jokić victory would move him closer to the all-time MVP record with a fourth award. He would join LeBron James and Wilt Chamberlain as four-time winners. Only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (6), Michael Jordan (5) and Bill Russell (5) have more MVPs in their trophy cases.
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