Former Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone used some of his ESPN airtime on Thursday night to clarify his 2025 NBA MVP sentiment about his former player, Nikola Jokić.
During NBA playoff pregame coverage in Oklahoma City, Malone clarified, if he had a MVP vote, he would have voted for Jokić over eventual MVP winner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“Nikola [Jokić] won the first of his three MVPs, and I did vote for him again this year if I had a vote,” Malone shared his comments. “Want to make sure the people in Denver know that because right now, I’m getting a lot of heat back home.”
Malone seemed to get his words twisted a bit recently while speaking about Gilgeous-Alexander being the consensus MVP, but he’s clearly covering his bases to make sure Denver fans now he’s still riding with Jokić.
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“Nikola [Jokic] won the first of his three MVPs and I did vote for him again this year if I had a vote. Want to make sure the people in Denver know that because right now, I’m getting a lot of heat back home.”
Former Nuggets coach Michael Malone 😅pic.twitter.com/Q0XRLfAk1P
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 23, 2025
Maybe this will clear it all up?
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Michael Malone clarified he would have voted for Nikola Jokić as MVP