In this podcast episode Draymond Green and Baron Davis dissect the 2024‑25 NBA MVP race, focusing on Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous‑Alexander. They note Jokic’s unprecedented self‑advocacy, his top‑three rankings in points, assists, rebounds and steals, and argue that his statistical dominance makes him a clear MVP candidate. They then shift to Shai, highlighting his fan‑friendly style, defensive and offensive leadership, and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s league‑leading record, positioning him as an equally compelling MVP contender. Both hosts criticize the current voting system for its subjectivity and lack of clear criteria, suggesting a small committee could award co‑MVP honors. They also discuss how repeated greatness (e.g., LeBron) can cause voter fatigue, potentially penalizing Jokic. The conversation later pivots to Daryl Morey’s use of AI in NBA decision‑making, debating the limits of AI, the importance of human‑crafted prompts, and the broader role of analytics in basketball. Throughout, the tone remains conversational, peppered with humor and occasional sarcasm, while the sentiment is largely supportive of both players and cautious about over‑reliance on analytics.
Chapters
Joker just made a statement after the first game. He said, "Man, I think I'm playing the best basketball of my career." He said, "But if I don't get it, good for him. He's amazing." That's the first time I've ever heard Joker like kind of lobby for himself an MVP, which I was a little shocked by. He usually don't give a damn about anything.
I was a little shocked. You gotta give a damn when you chasing history though. Let's say the years before, he was like, "Okay, if I get it, I get it." there's other dope dudes, there's other great amazing dudes, but this is my best year.
Yes.
Not only is this my best year, this is my best statistical year.
Yep.
By far than any of these MVP seasons that I had, right? So I gotta put that out there that, hey, I'm about to break, I'm about to do some shit that ain't nobody ever did in the league, in league history.
Yep.
And so you gotta put your bid out there. What, what Shay is doing, right, you know, is having a phenomenal season, MVP caliber season, leading the number one team in the league, right? And the way he get down is just, you know, kids love his game. He's a fan favorite. You know, he got the personality, right? The team got the personality. And so, you know, all light is gonna shine that way based on the work that he putting in, the way that they need him, the way he's elevated himself. You know, even more so from last year. But when you look at Joker and what Joker is doing and how he's doing it and being the focal, being the everything for that team, the engine that make that team go, top 5 in points, top 5 assists, top 5 in rebounds, top 5 in steals.
I think he top 3 in all of them.
Yeah, top 3. My bad. Top 3, top 3. Come on, man. Come on. You gotta, I gotta say something. I gotta say something just to let y'all know, like, I know what I'm doing out here and I'm feeling it too. So I think that's why he put that out there like that, just to let people know, like, yeah, I do know I'm killing this year. So take note of that.
I respect it. I'm happy. You know, I love when guys talk their shit. So I'm happy he said something. I think the only thing I would say is, as deserving as he is with that stat line, what he's up against is people become accustomed to greatness. And in turn, like LeBron, for instance, right? Like Bron probably should have like 6 MVPs, 6 or 7. But people get kind of accustomed and bored with greatness.
Right.
And so that's one of the things he's up against. If, if Joker was having this year statistically and all of that, if he was having this year, and had never won MVP, he undoubtedly be MVP.
Right.
But because people have grown accustomed to him averaging those types of numbers, you kind of get a bump down from that. Now, in saying that, when you look at who's won MVP over the years, I think it's also very hard to deny Shea.
Yep.
And that's where I think the voting system becomes a problem because the reality is, It's so opinionated. There's no criteria. There's none of these things. The reality is if you had a small committee, they'd probably make them co-MVPs. You know what I'm saying? If you had a small committee—
I mean, I would say that.
You make them co-MVPs.
I would say that.
I'm being honest with you. Both guys are deserving.
And like I said—
They're very deserving. Now here's the problem that Shai's up against though. 10 years from now, 5 years from now, Joker don't win MVP and you put those stats next to Shai's stats, Everybody gonna be like, "Yo, what the hell?" Like, "There's no chance this guy didn't win MVP." Right.
Right?
Right. And so, but we're not computers.
Especially after winning 3 more.
Absolutely.
Already having 3.
For sure. But we're not computers and we watch the games and we know the records and we know, right? As human beings, you take into, you know, these guys take into account that they get tired of seeing the same greatness and they try to do other things. Trying to be crafty with the votes. And so you got all of that going. I usually like to take a hard stance, but I'll say on this one, man, I wish the committee, I wish there was a committee and the voting was different because these guys would be co-MVPs. 'Cause it's hard to say one of 'em deserve it over the other one. Both great players, both doing some incredible— Shai leading this young team defensively and offensively.
Yeah, for sure. He stepped it up.
And they're number one in the league by What? I don't know if they're not, they're number one in the West by 10 games.
Yeah.
In the league, they're right there with the Cavs. I think the Cavs may be leading, but.
Yeah.
Man, it's a—
It's a 61-10 right there.
Yeah, it's tough, man. These guys, both those guys playing great.
They're very deserving. I mean, they both very deserving of it. And I like to see a co-MVP. Like you can't say one had a better year than the other one.
It's hard.
Because they both had incredible years. And one shouldn't overshadow what the other one accomplished this year because they were head and shoulders above everybody else as far as MVP pedigree.
BD, in recent weeks, uh, in the podcast community, we've lost Philadelphia 76ers wing Paul George, but that is not the biggest news to come outta Philadelphia in the last couple weeks. Sure. Darryl Morey says yesterday, or today, yesterday, that he uses AI to make decisions based, you know, around the team. What are your thoughts on that?
Not Allen Iverson, correct? All right. So AI is artificial intelligence, right?
Yes, it is.
And so hear me out.
It should be Allen Iverson, by the way.
Hear me out. But it's not. It should be, right? It should be the real AI. But you mean to tell me, You're gonna use artificial intelligence to judge real human interaction, right? And so when you do use artificial intelligence, you have to prompt the artificial intelligence to tell it, to help it, to tell the artificial intelligence so it can help you make a decision. And it's not making this decision, it's just giving you data and information and a suggestion.
Facts.
Right? So I say this, the Philadelphia 76ers are screwed. [LAUGHTER] Right? Because you can't blame AI because it still takes the human being to write the prompts. So what the hell, what kind of prompts are you putting in to help you make these decisions, right? Half the team hurt, right? Half the team don't wanna play. I don't know, man. Free all my homies over there in Philadelphia. Shit. My son use AI to make decisions too. It's called a video game, right? But you don't play with people's lives like that, bro.
Yeah.
Yeah. You know, I can see AI telling you like, "Oh, Cat shoots 57 on catch and releases." But come on, yo. All right, man.
That should be the starting center.
Man, you need to be consulting with AI for real. The real AI, bro. Oh my gosh.
Yeah. Listen, here's what I'll say on that before we get outta here. Daryl Morey, you see analytics being a huge part of the NBA and I think people went too far left with the analytics and they've started to pull it back and understand that.
Human intelligence.
The analytics gonna say, and they've learned how to use the analytics. Darryl Morey was at the forefront of that analytics push in the NBA. And I think in large part due to Darryl Morey, he never played basketball.
No.
So you use analytics to help you process and validate your opinions on basketball.
And talent.
Yes. In turn, that created a path for guys like Daryl Morey in the NBA that ain't never really played basketball, but knows numbers and can apply those numbers to real life basketball. It's no surprise that he's at the forefront of using AI. What I will caution you of, he never won. So there's that. And that's my thoughts on Draymond Green using AI.
