ATL - 2024-25 Season - Luka+ for AD+

[yb90]

One thing not talked about in Giannis favor is his clutch time defense. All the two way greats had it in their prime and so does Giannis. There is an extra level players like Jordan, LeBron, Kobe, Hakeem, and etc could go to late in games and Giannis goes there too.

[GHOSTofSIKMA]

Jokic is awesome, no doubt about it. HOFer right now. There's this small part of me, though, that wonders if he stat pads or something. I mean, he's constantly putting up lines of like 40/20/20 or something insane. Nobody comes close to the numbers he puts up on a daily basis. In the meantime, he has like a 2-inch vertical and whenever I see him play (which is admittedly not often), he basically stands around the free throw line holding the ball above his head with one hand.

Again, he's incredible. Arguably the best player of the last decade. But the video games stats he puts up every day seem weird. Seems like other top stars like Giannis could do that, too, but they just don't.

i think if stars could put up video game stats they all would honestly. the same thing was said about westbrook but it was kind of the rebounding numbers? i think its hard to stat pad points and assists without being baller. guys who are getting 30 efficient points and 10 assists are killing you all over the place

[yannisk]

Jokic is awesome, no doubt about it. HOFer right now. There's this small part of me, though, that wonders if he stat pads or something. I mean, he's constantly putting up lines of like 40/20/20 or something insane. Nobody comes close to the numbers he puts up on a daily basis. In the meantime, he has like a 2-inch vertical and whenever I see him play (which is admittedly not often), he basically stands around the free throw line holding the ball above his head with one hand.

Again, he's incredible. Arguably the best player of the last decade. But the video games stats he puts up every day seem weird. Seems like other top stars like Giannis could do that, too, but they just don't.

I doubt that Giannis could average 10 assists per game along with 30 ppg. Players like Harden and Westbrook in the past have done something like that and Doncic can do it now, none does it as efficiently as Jokic. He is a top scorer a top rebounder and a top playmaker. The only knock on him is his defense (which is not that bad, just average). His fans are becoming insufferable though

[emunney]

Southeast Division currently doesn't have any teams qualifying for the playoffs outright.

[BUCKnation]

Cavs just lost to Philly.. oof

[Profound23]

Yeah I mean I love Giannis but SGA and Jokic are having amazing seasons too. It wouldn’t be some travesty if one or both polled more MVP votes.

If he were in almost any other city Giannis has at least one more MVP. If Boston, NY, LA, Chicago he has two more.

I'm not discounting SGA or Joker. It's not a travesty if Giannis doesn't win MVP, it's a travesty they haven't even really considered him for another one since 2020. You can't tell me it's voter fatigue with Joker being considered for #4 with no issues.

How many MVPs did Shaq win? And he was in LA. I think there is a good comparison here with Giannis. Both players can dominate but both players are also flawed (free throws) and not as multi dimensional (can’t shoot), as other players. Both players also get criticized for their reliance on brute force.

Duncan had more MVPs than Shaq from a smaller market, was a more complete player, and one that writers would rather vote in. Jokic is getting g the same treatment (with added bonus of being white).

Nah, Shaq had Kobe. If Kobe wasn't there Shaq gets a bunch of MVPs. If Giannis were playing with Curry or LeBron, then yeah he's not getting MVP.

[KidA24]

If he were in almost any other city Giannis has at least one more MVP. If Boston, NY, LA, Chicago he has two more.

I'm not discounting SGA or Joker. It's not a travesty if Giannis doesn't win MVP, it's a travesty they haven't even really considered him for another one since 2020. You can't tell me it's voter fatigue with Joker being considered for #4 with no issues.

How many MVPs did Shaq win? And he was in LA. I think there is a good comparison here with Giannis. Both players can dominate but both players are also flawed (free throws) and not as multi dimensional (can’t shoot), as other players. Both players also get criticized for their reliance on brute force.

Duncan had more MVPs than Shaq from a smaller market, was a more complete player, and one that writers would rather vote in. Jokic is getting g the same treatment (with added bonus of being white).

Nah, Shaq had Kobe. If Kobe wasn't there Shaq gets a bunch of MVPs. If Giannis were playing with Curry or LeBron, then yeah he's not getting MVP.

In ten years from age 23 through 32, Shaq only played 70 games 3 times. He won 1 MVP and finished 2nd and 3rd.

[Milbucks96]

Shai is deserving but I lean Jokic especially since the nuggets are storming back up the rankings. Wouldn’t be mad at either pick. Giannis picked up some serious steam after the cup game but the bucks and him lost momentum when he and Dame got sick and we slid down. A third of the season left but I think it would take some unusually bad stretches from both Shai and Jokic for Giannis to take the mvp.

[tsamo]

Shai is deserving but I lean Jokic especially since the nuggets are storming back up the rankings. Wouldn’t be mad at either pick. Giannis picked up some serious steam after the cup game but the bucks and him lost momentum when he and Dame got sick and we slid down. A third of the season left but I think it would take some unusually bad stretches from both Shai and Jokic for Giannis to take the mvp.

Nuggets are storming back up the rankings by playing against mid teams at best. The best team they've beat during their last 11 games is the 6th seed Clippers without Kawhi... Lost to Rockets and Celtics.

It's like us saying we are storming back up the rankings and the best team we beat during the last 12 games is the Pacers who are 5th in the East. So maybe we're in even better condition than the Nuggets, right? Lol.

Also Giannis is not winning MVP this year, no way.
Also also, the Jokic stans have become insufferable everywhere you go. I have no beef with Jokic, I like him but his fans are close to souring me on him.
And Shai has better advanced stats than Jokic in a lot of them, almost 10 more wins, all while his second best player is injured for like 2.5 months. Nuggets are closer to being out of the playoffs than they are to the 1st seed.

[Milbucks96]

Shai is deserving but I lean Jokic especially since the nuggets are storming back up the rankings. Wouldn’t be mad at either pick. Giannis picked up some serious steam after the cup game but the bucks and him lost momentum when he and Dame got sick and we slid down. A third of the season left but I think it would take some unusually bad stretches from both Shai and Jokic for Giannis to take the mvp.

Nuggets are storming back up the rankings by playing against mid teams at best. The best team they've beat during their last 11 games is the 6th seed Clippers without Kawhi... Lost to Rockets and Celtics.

It's like us saying we are storming back up the rankings and the best team we beat during the last 12 games is the Pacers who are 5th in the East. So maybe we're in even better condition than the Nuggets, right? Lol.

Also Giannis is not winning MVP this year, no way.
Also also, the Jokic stans have become insufferable everywhere you go. I have no beef with Jokic, I like him but his fans are close to souring me on him.
And Shai has better advanced stats than Jokic in a lot of them, almost 10 more wins, all while his second best player is injured for like 2.5 months. Nuggets are closer to being out of the playoffs than they are to the 1st seed.

That’s valid. They’re so close to me that I can go either way.

[skbucks1985]

Jokic is awesome, no doubt about it. HOFer right now. There's this small part of me, though, that wonders if he stat pads or something. I mean, he's constantly putting up lines of like 40/20/20 or something insane. Nobody comes close to the numbers he puts up on a daily basis. In the meantime, he has like a 2-inch vertical and whenever I see him play (which is admittedly not often), he basically stands around the free throw line holding the ball above his head with one hand.

Again, he's incredible. Arguably the best player of the last decade. But the video games stats he puts up every day seem weird. Seems like other top stars like Giannis could do that, too, but they just don't.

I doubt that Giannis could average 10 assists per game along with 30 ppg. Players like Harden and Westbrook in the past have done something like that and Doncic can do it now, none does it as efficiently as Jokic. He is a top scorer a top rebounder and a top playmaker. The only knock on him is his defense (which is not that bad, just average). His fans are becoming insufferable though

Strongly disagree. Jokic is an abomination as a defensive player and his defensive shortcomings have been and will continue to be something that is the focal point of teams' offensive game plans.

[ShootingtheJ]

Shai is deserving but I lean Jokic especially since the nuggets are storming back up the rankings. Wouldn’t be mad at either pick. Giannis picked up some serious steam after the cup game but the bucks and him lost momentum when he and Dame got sick and we slid down. A third of the season left but I think it would take some unusually bad stretches from both Shai and Jokic for Giannis to take the mvp.

Nuggets are storming back up the rankings by playing against mid teams at best. The best team they've beat during their last 11 games is the 6th seed Clippers without Kawhi... Lost to Rockets and Celtics.

It's like us saying we are storming back up the rankings and the best team we beat during the last 12 games is the Pacers who are 5th in the East. So maybe we're in even better condition than the Nuggets, right? Lol.

Also Giannis is not winning MVP this year, no way.
Also also, the Jokic stans have become insufferable everywhere you go. I have no beef with Jokic, I like him but his fans are close to souring me on him.
And Shai has better advanced stats than Jokic in a lot of them, almost 10 more wins, all while his second best player is injured for like 2.5 months. Nuggets are closer to being out of the playoffs than they are to the 1st seed.

That’s valid. They’re so close to me that I can go either way.

We have almost half the season left, including the most important part in the minds of the voters, recency bias. Nothing is decided yet.

[skbucks1985]

Cavs just lost to Philly.. oof

Cleveland's 3-4 in their last 7. In a much larger sample size, Boston is 10-9 in their last 19. I don't put much value into the Boston record, I think its a combination of this being the doldrums of the season plus Boston's going to lose some games over the course of a season solely because of 3-pt variance. But I thought Cleveland was really invested in having a historic regular season and getting to 70 wins so them having a 3-4 stretch surprises me.

[drew881]

Not sure if anyone posted the Wemby Paris highlights:

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1GAe3iQz8P/?mibextid=wwXIfr

[benultimate]

Grimes on Kornet good lord

[ShootingtheJ]

Grimes on Kornet good lord

As far as vicious dunks go, that's up there with all of them.

[MikeIsGood]

Vince getting his number retired by New Jersey/Brooklyn kind of feels like "Alright, well if someone has to..."

He played there for 4.5 years, went to 2 AS games, and they never made an EC Finals with him lol.

ETA: Looking back at his stats, it's kind of funny to think about all of the 'half man, half a season' crap he got back in the day. By today's standards he was an absolute ironman. Even by historical standards he really only had a couple seasons in his prime years where he missed significant time.

[Matches Malone]

Read on Twitter

[ReasonablySober]

God he's cost himself so much money.

[humanrefutation]

Not sure why they didn't just send him home until the deadline.