Nikola Jokic won his third NBA MVP award on Wednesday night, but Shaquille O’Neal ruined the moment.Soon after Jokic learned he had won MVP, he was assigned to TNT’s Inside The NBA crew to discuss it, with O’Neal being overly candid from the start.

“Joker is the president of the Big Man Alliance, and you are the vice president; you know how much I love you. I’d want to congratulate the top player in the league. O’Neal began. “I want you to hear it from me first: I believe SGA [Shai Gilgeous-Alexander] should have won the MVP. That is not disrespectful to you, but congratulations.”

Jokic’s normal carefree demeanor shone through when he responded to Shaq, telling him it’s acceptable to disagree with the winner because many of other excellent players earned it as well.

“Thank you, Shaq; we don’t judge anyone here. That’s okay; it’s your view. “I’m joking,” the NBA champion added, laughing. “For real, there are a lot of players that deserve it.”

However, Jokic’s domination demonstrates that he merits the award. The Nuggets are the defending champs, and Jokic averages 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 9.0 assists.

The argument is that there were players who averaged higher in each stat category—these were not even Jokic’s career numbers—but Joker was the only player on the ballot to rank in the NBA’s top ten in points, which is extremely valuable.

Jokic received 79 out of 99 available votes and was followed by Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dallas Maverick Luka Doncic.

Despite Jokic’s strong-willed team of Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, and Michael Porter Jr., they are currently 0-2 against the Anthony Edwards-led Minnesota Timberwolves. He finds himself in the same situation as Joel Embiid did last year: a perhaps deserving regular-season MVP who may not make a long postseason run while the runner-up thrives.