ESPN is at it again, as NBA analyst Jay Williams stated on Thursday morning that the MVP race is currently between two players, excluding Nikola Jokic.

First and foremost, it is far too early to be discussing MVP. The Denver Nuggets, like the rest of the league, have only played 11 games. But it’s odd to have this discussion without mentioning Jokic, who has easily been the top player thus far by most criteria.

If you want to watch the portion where Williams names Phoenix’s Kevin Durant and Boston’s Jayson Tatum.

Both Williams and Mike Greenberg went on to assert that Boston is the top team in the NBA, before hedging with “they’re the best team in the East, at a minimum.” The Celtics and Nuggets are both 9-2. This is tied for the highest mark in the league.

Jokic is now seventh in points per game (30.0), first in rebounds (13.9 per game), and fourth in assists (8.4 per game). He’s in the top five in all three key categories, but Durant is fourth in scoring (30.1 points per game) and nowhere near the top five in rebounds and assists. Tatum ranks ninth in scoring (28.5 points per game), and he also ranks ninth in the other two categories.

Seriously, what are we doing here?! Has the slander of Jokic already begun, as it did with Kendrick Perkins a season ago?

It’s unclear why ESPN has such a vendetta against Jokic, but there’s an argument to be made that it lost him his third straight MVP award last year. And the network is already back at it, promoting an odd story.