One of the things that MVP candidates have to do if they want to be more than just an MVP candidate and be the actual MVP is hit game-winners. No one really remembers random shots from the middle of the second quarter unless they’re REALLY crazy. But everyone remembers game-winners. Before I was an NBA fan, I still watched (really low-quality) all the game-winner/buzzer-beater compilations (and single videos) I could get my hands on. I remember random game-winners from decades ago more than recent ones, actually.
Nikola Jokic’s game-winner wasn’t at the buzzer, and all it did was break a tie rather than switch a loss to a win, but it had another quality that elevates it above the average game-winner: aesthetics. A E S T H E T I C. It was pretty. Bam Adebayo challenged it as well as he could, forcing Jokic to hit a high-arcing floater-jumper thing while descending from his jump. Of course, it hit nothing but net.
Triple-doubles are also another thing that real MVPs do that separates them from the rabbling masses of impotent MVP candidates. Russell Westbrook won a whole MVP award solely on the back of statpadding for them, so it’s good that Jokic has noticed and is bulking up his resume with them. The voters just love their semi-arbitrary statistical feats.