Nikola Jokic was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player for the third time

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic was named NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the third time in four seasons on Wednesday, May 8. The 29-year-old Serbian star, who won the award in 2021 and 2022, finished second in the voting in 2023 but had the satisfaction of leading the Nuggets to a first NBA title.

This season, he averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds and 9.0 assists in the regular season, beating out Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks in the final voting for the award.

In another season where Jokic managed to make brilliance seem almost routine, he became the second player, after Oscar Robertson, to record 2,000 points, 900 rebounds and 600 assists in a season. His 25 triple-doubles and 68 double-doubles were both second in the league.

Jokic enters elite territory with a third MVP crown. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s six MVPs are the most ever. Bill Russell and Michael Jordan won five each and Wilt Chamberlain and LeBron James won four. Jokic joins Moses Malone, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson as three-time winners after receiving 79 first-place votes, compared to 15 for Gilgeous-Alexander and four for Doncic.

“We have to start with the teammates. Without them, I can’t do anything,” Jokic said in the MVP announcement on TNT when asked to think about another MVP. “Coaches, players, organization, medical staff, coaches through time, development coaches – it’s all one big circle and without them I couldn’t be wherever I am.”

Behind Jokic, the 57-25 Nuggets tied the franchise high for wins in a season — though they were tied with Oklahoma City for the best record in the West and finished as the second seed behind the young Thunder team.

As always, the MVP award provided plenty of room for discussion. Gilgeous-Alexander, a 25-year-old Canadian, averaged 30.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 2.0 steals per game for starters Oklahoma City and had 51 30-point games in the league. Slovenian Doncic led the league with 33.9 points per game and ranked second in assists with 9.8 per game. He averaged 9.2 rebounds per game and became the third player to average a 30-point triple-double after the All-Star break, following Oscar Robertson (1961-62) and Russell Westbrook (2016-17).

But Nuggets coach Mike Malone had no doubt that Jokic’s third MVP was well deserved. “I don’t know if I can put into words what his greatness means to any team,” Malone said last month, adding that he especially admired the fact that winning the award was “not his motivation.” “When he gets up in the morning … he doesn’t do it for the individual accolades and recognition,” Malone said. “He’s doing it for the collective to win and hopefully win another championship. That’s what he’s all about.”

Excellence every night

Malone said Jokic is a classic example of a player who makes the rest of his team better. “That’s what amazes me, especially with Nikola as a player. Just the consistent greatness and how he finds ways to bring that level of excellence every night, no matter who’s available around him,” Malone said. . “The bottom line is you have to put that team on his back and make all his teammates that much better.”

Whether Jokic will be able to combine an MVP award and the title this season remains to be seen. The Nuggets dropped the first two games of their Western Conference semifinal series to the Minnesota Timberwolves and face the tough task of trying to get back on the Timberwolves’ home court starting Friday.

Jokic’s victory marks the sixth straight season that the MVP award has gone to a player born outside the United States. The last US-born player to win was James Harden in 2018.