The J

In 2025, Nikola Jokic posted career second-bests in player efficiency rating and true shooting percentage. Despite being personal second bests, those numbers were good for first in the league amongst this year’s All-Stars. Jokic also led the league in Box Plus/Minus and Offensive Win Shares. Finally, Jokic led the league in VORP, which is essentially the NBA’s version of WAR, which attempts to measure a player’s value over the league’s ‘replacement level.’ The Serbian native fell just short of his fourth MVP in five years as Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took home the honors. Beyond his efficiency, Nikola Jokic posted a 29.6/12.7/10.2 slash line, which may very well go down as one of the greatest non-MVP seasons of all time. With Cam Johnson replacing Michael Porter Jr. next year and continued growth from Christian Braun and Julian Strawther, don’t be shocked if the Nuggets are back to record highs in 2026, with an MVP Joker back at the helm of the league. 

In pure efficiency and statistical value, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 2025 MVP may be viewed as voter fatigue. Yet, anyone who watched the NBA this year would point out that Shai was by far the league’s most unstoppable scorer and served as the consistent heartbeat of the 2025 NBA Champion Oklahoma City Thunder. Behind Jokic, SGA led the league in OBPM and VORP, along with securing the league’s scoring title on a career-best .637 TS%. SGA’s best ability is his prevalence in the mid-range, shooting exactly 50% on mid-range looks. Gilgeous-Alexander also posted a qualified career high in 3pt%, despite attracting even more attention from high-quality defenses. SGA has found a happy medium that allows him to excel from all three levels with the ball in his hands, along with excelling on the defensive side of the ball, where he led the league in defensive win shares. 

Giannis Antetokounmpo deserves his flowers for playing 67 games on a Bucks team that was unserious for a vast majority of the year. In 2024-2025, the Greek Freak posted a 30.4/11.9/6.5 slash line that just proved how desensitized the NBA community has become to these types of seasons. Giannis posted the league’s third-best VORP and .625 TS% while having the league’s highest qualified Usage % (35.2%). Per usual, Antetokounmpo excelled at the rim (74.9%), unlike many others whose three-point rates create quality efficiency. Antetokounmpo also finished third in PER and OWS, behind the aforementioned two. Giannis’ Bucks toiled in tough waters in 2024, and it seems like even more confusing times are to come. With Damian Lillard’s unfortunate injury and the exit that followed, the Bucks will look towards Myles Turner and the little bit of youth they have left to keep Antetokounmpo in Wisconsin. 

With the three’s ages averaging just shy of 30 years old, these three show no signs of slowing down. With the likes of Durant, Curry, and James aging out of the league, these three have officially taken the reins.

From Professional Sports to College Athletics, The J has it all