Nuggets star Nikola Jokic makes history, named back-to-back NBA MVP
May 9, 2022, 6:46 AM | Updated: May 11, 2022, 4:33 pm
He did it again.
Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic was officially named NBA MVP for the 2021-2022 season on Wednesday night, making him the 13th back-to-back MVP in league history. Jokic beat out Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid to capture the award. ESPN leaked the news on Monday morning.
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic has been voted the NBA’s Most Valuable Player for a second consecutive season, sources tell ESPN. A formal announcement is expected this week.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 9, 2022
Jokic was spectacular this season and made history in Colorado. He’s now the first multiple-time MVP in Denver among the four major professional sports. Jokic carried the Nuggets to an impressive 48-34 record and the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference, despite being without Jamal Murray the entire season and Michael Porter Jr. for all but nine games.
“The Joker” averaged 27.1 points per game, 13.8 rebounds, 7.9 assists, 1.5 steals and .9 blocks. All of his stats in those categories were improvements from his 2020-21 MVP campaign, except for assists which went down by just 0.4 per game. Antetokounmpo, who Jokic beat out for this season’s award, was the last player to go back-to-back. He did so in the seasons that ended in 2019 and 2020.
Jokic, a Sombor, Serbia native, was the No. 41 overall pick by the Nuggets in the 2014 NBA Draft. Jokic was asleep when he was selected in the second-round and a Taco Bell commercial infamously aired when his name flashed across ESPN.
It truly is one of the best individual sports stories (if not the best) in Colorado history. Jokic going from completely unknown to an absolute superstar is something no one could have seen coming. The Nuggets were defeated by the Golden State Warriors 4-1 in the first-round of the Western Conference playoffs, despite having the best player in the world on their side.
Next up is getting healthy and getting him some help, as The Joker once again reigns supreme as the top player in the NBA.
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