Determining whether Paul Pierce was trying to sidestep a difficult decision or genuinely believes in his idea for the NBA was hard this Monday on FS1’s Speak. He proposed a unique approach for this season’s MVP Award: sharing the honor between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokić.
The Speak cast weighed in on whether SGA should be the unequivocal front-runner, as oddsmakers have suggested. “I’m so conflicted on this right now,” Pierce commented. “On one end, you’ve gotta give credit to SGA for leading this team to 60 wins (64 currently), the best record in the league, leading the league in scoring. The last time we saw someone lead in both scoring and have the best record, it was LeBron [James] a long time ago. That’s significant.”
Gilgeous-Alexander has driven the Oklahoma City Thunder to a historic season, with MVP voters usually favoring team performance. However, Jokić continues to put up astounding numbers (30 points, 12.8 rebounds, 10.2 assists per game), while the Denver Nuggets strive for the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. “On the other side, this is historic; [Jokić] is top three in three major statistical categories,” Pierce added. “I’ve never seen that in all my years of watching basketball … in fact, it’s never happened. How do you tell a guy doing this much that he’s not the MVP?”
“I put in a bid that … they should come up with a co-MVP,” Pierce proposed. “Can they do it?” Keyshawn Johnson inquired. “Man, they can do whatever they want,” Pierce responded. “We had a co-Rookie of the Year before.”
.@paulpierce34 believes the NBA should have a Co-MVP with SGA and Jokic. pic.twitter.com/7XxVtnGbSQ
— Speak (@SpeakOnFS1) April 7, 2025
A tie in voting is the only scenario where co-MVPs could be awarded, something that has never happened in the NBA, although it has occurred twice in the modern NFL and once in MLB in 1979, when Keith Hernandez shared the accolade with Willie Stargell. The NBA MVP Award is determined by a panel of writers from the U.S. and Canada. The debate surrounding the SGA versus Jokić MVP race has generated extensive discussion, and Pierce’s remarks highlight the difficult decision facing the voters. However, they will ultimately need to make a choice — a choice that Pierce seemed to shy away from.