Justin Verrier

This time there are three guys in the running for it.

But did you find yourself changing your mind throughout this process or did you feel like throughout most of it, North Star, this guy is it?

And even as you dug into it this week, like, yeah, it seemed pretty clear it was this guy.

Okay.

Kyle, you, did you labor over this?

Did you feel like one guy was it for you?

I had Shea as well, and I agree with you guys.

I think when you get down into the weeds of this, Jokic's argument just becomes so tough to ignore just because the empirical evidence is so overwhelming.

He, I think, has pretty much assured himself that he's going to lead the league in rebounds and assists, and it's the first player to ever do so.

That's pretty fucking good.

But I think you guys are right.

It's not only that Shea has caught up in the catch-all metrics, which is, I think, notable because usually Jokic just dominates those in a way that Shea kind of just pales in comparison.

I think it's the clutch production as well.

Shea has had one of the best clutch seasons in recent memory.

And he's just like, when you think about in the broad sense, like, what is an MVP?

Who's the most valuable player?

It's being able to thrive in those moments.

But I think you're right.

I think it's the consistency, especially in contrast to Jokic, where Shea broke the record in 20-point games this season.

In fact, the last time I looked this up, he did not reach 20 points, was October 30th, 2024, in which he had 18 points.