Former Nuggets Coach Malone Clarifies 2025 MVP Vote For Jokic

Former Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone clarified that if he had a vote for the 2025 NBA MVP, he would have chosen Nikola Jokic over the eventual winner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, reaffirming his support for Jokic despite some public confusion. Notably, an interesting trend has been observed among recent NBA MVPs: none of the six winners over the last nine seasons, including Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander, had tattoos at the time they won, with the last tattooed MVP being Steph Curry in 2015 and 2016. Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo compared Jokic's fundamental style of play to that of Tim Duncan, a five-time NBA champion and a pivotal role model for Jokic, highlighting the continuation of traditional big man influence in modern basketball. These insights reveal both the ongoing respect for Jokic's talents in the league and an intriguing cultural note about MVP recipients.