Nikola Jokic joins best players in NBA history with latest honor

DENVER—Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic has again been named NBA MVP, this time for his performance during the 2023-24 season.

Jokic’s third MVP makes him the ninth in an elite group of basketball all-timers to win three MVPs.

That list is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, LeBron James, Moses Malone, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Each of these players has also captured a Finals MVP and a title as well, except for Russell, whose career predates the Bill Russell Finals MVP award.

Jokic won last year’s Finals MVP and has won the regular season MVP in three of the last four seasons, only missing out on the 2022-23 year when the Nuggets won a title. A media member from a league partner, ESPN, used racial bias to influence the award voting thus making the Nuggets and their star want no part of the race. To this day, Jokic has wanted nothing to do with the MVP discourse likely thanks a bit to how the 2023 award played out. If Joel Embiid hadn’t won, it would have been four straight MVPs. Bird is the last player to win three consecutively while four-in-a-row has never been accomplished. There are only five players who have even won the MVP four times.

Last year’s controversy will make Joker’s reaction to this year’s news all the more interesting as does the Nuggets current playoff status. Like his first MVP win, he should get a moment with the award before an upcoming home playoff game, but Denver will need to avoid a sweep for that. His second award, when Denver was already knocked out of the playoffs, was very unique. The strange situation resulted in the big man getting his second MVP as a surprise while at his horse stables in Serbia.

In 2023-24, Jokic was his steady self all of the regular season and improved after the All-Star Break where Denver sped to a 21-6 record, all while Jamal Murray missed a solid chunk of time. Jokic averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds and nine assists a game on 58% shooting, good for league bests in Player Efficiency Rating (31,) Win Shares (17,) Box Plus-Minus (13.2) and Value Over Replacement Player (10.6.)

Jokic finished ahead of Shai Gilgeous Alexander and Luka Doncic for the honor. If Denver can turn it around against the Wolves, Jokic is guaranteed a meeting with either SGA’s Thunder or Luka’s Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals.

The complete voting results for the 2023-24 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player. pic.twitter.com/Dqbd7MaRjC

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 8, 2024