Michael Malone Walks Back SGA-Jokic MVP Remarks, Says He Would Vote for Nuggets Star

Former Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone clarified his comments regarding the MVP debate between Nikola Jokić and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Thursday.

"I did vote for him again this year if I had a vote," Malone said regarding Jokić during a Thursday appearance on NBA Countdown. "I want to make sure the people of Denver know that. Because right now, I’m getting a lot of heat back home."

He previously explained that Gilgeous-Alexander "showed why he's the MVP" after the Thunder took down the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.

The Oklahoma City Thunder guard was later named MVP, while Jokić finished No. 2 in voting for the award.

Malone served as Denver's head coach from the beginning of the team's 2015-16 campaign until he was fired with three games remaining in the 2024-25 regular season. The move initially came as a surprise, with the team sitting at 47-32 and the coach winning a championship with the Nuggets in 2023.

Both Jokić and Gilgeous-Alexander were stellar throughout the year, but Malone previously backed the star center before the organization parted ways with him.

"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," Malone told reporters.

Jokić became the third player in NBA history to average a triple-double for an entire season, recording 29.6 points and 12.7 rebounds to go along with 10.2 assists per game.

Meanwhile, Gilgeous-Alexander paced the league by averaging 32.7 points per game on an Oklahoma City team that owned the best record in the association at 68-14.

While Malone initially referred to Gilgeous-Alexander as the 2025 MVP instead of Jokić prior to his award victory, he explained that he still would have supported his former player.