Exp0sed wrote:here's where you keep making the same mistake. for the last 3 seasons (+ the beginning of the current one), the MVP thread = Jokic slobber fest. they are one and the same.
in the span of that time, Jokic has changed from a great player most people have never even heard of and can't even pronounce his name right into the best player in basketball and being universally looked at as a top 15 ATG player whose current 3-4 year long peak is easily a top 5 peak (and widely considered as such)
to go from point A to point B, well.. that takes a whole lot of "slobbering" I guess
So I think this gets to something worth noting about this particular debate.
Because Embiid & Jokic have been compared since before they were all-star, and both have risen to become MVP-level players, there's a continuity in the gangs of advocates for both guys with respect to each other, and that means saying a lot of similar stuff coming from the other side year after year.
I think it's worth acknowledging that this is happening because both guys have become so, so great. If either one had flamed out, this debate would have been over years ago. Instead each guy keeps supplying his supporters with new ammunition, which they did use, which the other side continues to see as "more of the same".
On a broad level it'd be wise for all of us to cut "the other side" slack because of this. It's hard when they escalate it ways that feel personal of course, but truthfully each side is sharing stuff that feels new to them because it is new. It's "more of the same" in that it is good stuff, but both of these guys have continued to elevate their games and it makes sense for folks to celebrate that.
As I say all of that, I'd also push back against the idea that we've seen equal rise from the two players. Those who know my posting track record on this know which way I've been leaning in recent years, but to some degree, whichever guy has improved more is less significant than the fact that both have improved. If you can appreciate the specifics about how each has improved, and celebrate both players without feeling a need to tear the other one down, you're doing it right.
