Spurs SF Keita Bates-Diop 'Biased' Towards Former Teammate in MVP Race
Entering the final month of the NBA regular season, teams are one of three things: confident, determined or sunk.
As far as records go, the San Antonio Spurs fall in the latter of the three, sitting at only 16 wins on the season.
But the players have not given up. They remain focused on winning and playing their best basketball to close out the year, with their next challenge coming Friday against the West's No. 1-seeded Denver Nuggets.
And with only a month of basketball left to play, MVP talks are heating up, leaving the question of who earned it most up for discussion, though Spurs forward Keita Bates-Diop has a clear winner.
"I'm a little biased," he said, "[But] Jokic, because I played with him for a little bit, and I see his improvement ... but yeah, I'm biased towards Jokic, even though it probably will be his third straight one."
Bates-Diop was Jokic's teammate during the 2020 season, when the Nuggets made a four-way trade to land him and three other players from both the Rockets and Timberwolves.
Soon after acquiring him however, the former Big Ten player of the year was assigned to the Windy City Bulls — G-league affiliate of the Chicago Bulls — where he was later released from the Nuggets before signing with the Spurs.
During his seven-game stint with Denver, Bates-Diop averaged 5.3 points and 2.9 rebounds.
That season, Jokic put up career numbers to earn his first MVP, averaging 26.4 points, 10.8 rebounds and 8.3 points. The next season, however, was followed up by even higher numbers, which earned him the award in a second consecutive season.
Since then, the Bates-Diop played the best basketball of his career, currently averaging 8.5 points and 3.4 rebounds for San Antonio, and says that Jokic is doing the same, now chasing his third consecutive MVP award.
Jokic, should his stat line hold, would become the third player in NBA history to average a triple-double for a season, making his season another one for the record books.
"[Since I played with him], every aspect he has literally gotten better in," Bates-Diop said. "[It's] crazy to think about because he was already really good then ... he doesn't really miss a game either ... so for him to keep doing this for this many years straight is remarkable."
The Spurs and company will face the reigning MVP tomorrow night, looking to add their 17th win of the season to start their home stand — and Bates-Diop is ready for his former teammate.
"[We're going to focus on] getting better," he said. "We're trying to win the game for sure, and see where we can attack them. They have flaws like every other team, so the biggest thing [will be] staying solid through all 48 [minutes]."
Bates-Diop's Spurs face Jokic's Nuggets tomorrow night at AT&T Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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