Each week during the 2022-23 NBA season, we will take a deeper dive into some of the league’s biggest storylines in an attempt to determine whether the trends are based more in fact or fiction moving forward.
The MVP case for two-time winner Nikola Jokic on the sixth-seeded Denver Nuggets last season centered around the unassailable advanced statistics that made his raw numbers even more impressive and carried his team to 48 victories in the Western Conference, despite the injury absences of his two best teammates.
This was enough for Jokic to overcome incredible seasons from Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo for a second straight year.