Michael Malone: You're 'All Bulls--ting' If Nikola Jokic Isn't NBA MVP With His Stats

Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone has started publicly campaigning for Nikola Jokić to win the NBA MVP award for the fourth time in the last five seasons.

After Jokić put up 35 points, 18 rebounds and eight assists in Monday's 140-127 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, Malone told reporters they're "all bulls--tting" if they don't think the Nuggets superstar is the MVP:

"Obviously, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a great player, and if he wins his first MVP, he’s deserving of that. 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. And if you don’t think so, I think you guys are all bulls--ting."

Jokić, who is not one to boast about himself, did admit he feels like he's playing as well as he ever as while also giving credit to Gilgeous-Alexander.

"I will say that I think I'm playing the best basketball of my life, so if that's enough, that's enough," Jokic said after the victory. "If not, the guy [Gilgeous-Alexander] deserves it. He's really amazing."

With Jokić and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander likely the top two MVP candidates right now, these two head-to-head meetings between the Nuggets and Thunder on Sunday and Monday in Oklahoma City could have provided some clarity on the race.

Instead, the two teams split with both players putting up great individual performances in their club's victory. Gilgeous-Alexander dropped 40 with eight rebounds, five assists and three blocks to lead the Thunder to a 127-103 win on Sunday.

Jokić, who injured his elbow in Sunday's game and was also dealing with an ankle injury, came back the next night with what's become a standard performance by him to help the Nuggets get a big win.

The case for Jokić as MVP isn't hard to make, as evidenced by Malone's comments. He ranks third in the NBA in scoring (28.9 points per game), second in assists (10.5) and third in rebounds (13.0).

Jokić is on pace to join Russell Westbrook and Oscar Robertson as the only players in NBA history to average a triple-double in a season. He's shooting 43.0 percent from three-point range on a career-high 4.5 attempts per game.

There's also a great argument for Gilgeous-Alexander to win his first MVP award. He leads the NBA in scoring (32.7 points per game) on 52.5 percent shooting, along with 6.2 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game for a Thunder team that has an 11-game lead over Denver for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

Regardless of who ends up winning MVP, the stats and eye test suggest the race between Jokić and Gilgeous-Alexander is extremely close. Both teams have played 65 games so far this season, giving them 17 more games to make their case for the award.

If Jokić wins, he will join Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and LeBron James as the only players in NBA history with at least four MVPs.