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The race for this year’s regular season NBA MVP award was one of the most contentious ones in recent memory thanks to the unusually heated debate over whether Nikola Jokić or Joel Embiid deserved that particular honor.
When everything was said and done, the 76ers big man walked away with the trophy, and while postseason play obviously isn’t taken into consideration, it’s become increasingly hard to argue voters didn’t deprive the Nuggets phenom of his third consecutive piece of hardware based on how he’s performed in the playoffs.
Jokić has been the undisputed star of a Denver team that made quick work of every opponent that stood between them and the NBA Finals, and even though he tried to downplay the fact that the Nuggets entered the series as heavy favorites over the Heat, he’s one of the biggest reasons that was the case.
Miami was able to even up the series with a 111-108 win on Sunday night, but the man known as “The Joker” did what he could to aid Denver’s cause in a contest where he posted a game-high 41 points complemented by 11 rebounds and four assists.
That contest was just more proof Jokić is one of the best players (if not the best) currently doing their thing in the NBA.
However, he somehow managed to find a critic in the form of the prolific Exasperated Sigh Generator who is Skip Bayless, who had this to say while discussing his performance in Game 2.
I have never ever seen a man luck in as many shots as Joker did tonight. We used to call them "greasing" in shots. Tonight Joker was one big tub of Crisco.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) June 5, 2023
It’s safe to say that did not sit well with longtime NBA coach George Karl, who didn’t hold back when he fired a shot at Skip to defend the honor of a man who he recently said is a better passer than Larry Bird.
This man is an embarrassment to sports media https://t.co/eyLutuYf6h
— George Karl (@CoachKarl22) June 5, 2023
Karl is really just saying what millions of other people have thought at some point in time, but it’s always nice to hear someone who made a living coaching a sport put a talking head like Bayless in their place.