Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić is not one for self-promotion. After back-to-back games against the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are led by fellow Most Valuable Player candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokić kept his comments about the award race succinct.

One head-to-head result in early March does not, by itself, decide something as massive as which player will wind up winning the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award. It can, however, provide an opportunity to make an emphatic statement.

LeBron James is the last player to secure four MVP wins in five years. However, that could shift soon, considering the dominating, fourth-MVP-worthy, career-year Nikola Jokić is conjuring.