Serbian Nikola Jokic was named MVP of the NBA regular season on Wednesday. This is the third time that the Denver Nuggets pivot has obtained this award.
Jokic, 29, had already been named best player in the North American league in 2021 and 2022. He finished second in 2023, behind Joel Embiid, of the Sixers, but had the satisfaction of leading the Nuggets to their first NBA title this year.
This season, Jokic averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds and 9 assists for Denver. The defending champion finished tied atop the Western Conference with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
For the third year in a row, no American player was in the running among the three finalists for the MVP title. Jokic was opposed to Canadian leaders Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder) and Slovenian Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks). The last American MVP was James Harden in 2018.
Like Malone, Bird and Johnson
This third trophy allows Jokic to join Moses Malone, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in the NBA pantheon. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar holds the all-time record with six MVPs, Bill Russell and Michael Jordan each hold five titles and Wilt Chamberlain and LeBron James four.
It remains to be seen whether the Serbian will be able to combine this MVP award with the defense of his NBA title this season. The Nuggets are indeed in bad shape after losing the first two matches of the Western Conference semi-final against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
/ATS
