Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic NBA’s MVP most valuable player now… See more…
No player has won the NBA’s MVP award in three consecutive years since Larry Bird did so from 1984-86 and in fact, Bird is just one of three players in league history to win the award three consecutive times, the others being Wilt Chamberlain (1966-68) and Bill Russell (1961-63)
Whether it is “voter fatigue” or some other factor, voters don’t typically like to award a player with the MVP award three straight seasons, but it is hard to overlook the success Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic has been having this season.
He is not averaging as high of a scoring mark nor rebounding mark as he did a season ago, but Jokic has improved in other areas that have gone extremely unnoticed.
We have seen a near 25 percent increase in Jokic’s assists this season, he looks a lot more comfortable on the defensive-end of the floor, he is shooting a career-high 63.4 percent from the floor and most importantly, Nikola Jokic has led the Nuggets to having the best record in the Western Conference almost all season long.
Now, this is not to say that Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo are not deserving of the NBA’s MVP honors, as they most certainly have great cases to be made against Jokic, but Denver’s center still remains the favorite in many people’s eyes, including those who cover the team daily.
On a recent episode of The Fast Break Podcast, DNVR’s Harrison Wind talked about Nikola Jokic’s MVP campaign and why he still believes that Jokic should win his third straight MVP award.
“I think this race is going to be extremely close. It seems like it is going to be Nikola Jokic or Joel Embiid at this point,” Wind stated.
“Both guys are very deserving and this MVP race has been a massive storyline in the league all year long. People think that all of us in Denver hate Joel Embiid. He’s a remarkable player and he may not like to play in Denver when those two teams play, but he’s a phenomenal player.
But, I am biased and I think Jokic should win the MVP again. He’s averaging a triple-double on 70 percent true shooting on the number one team in the West, they’ve been the top team in the conference all year long.”
Nikola Jokic once again leads the league in triple-doubles with 29 of them this season, he leads the league in true shooting percentage (70.4 percent), he leads the league in win shares (15.0) and Jokic also leads the league in Player Efficiency Rating (31.9), a metric that has ultimately decided every NBA MVP since the start of the 2015-16 season and all but two league MVPs since the start of the 2008-09 season.
