Nikola Jokic misses out on major honor, will likely go awardless

One of the best offensive seasons by a player in NBA history may result in no major awards for Nikola Jokic, as he lost out on one and is expected to miss out on the league’s MVP as well.

The NBA announced the Clutch Player of the Year (Jerry West Trophy) on Wednesday, handing the honor to Jalen Brunson. There were 100 voters given a ballot for the trophy, and they placed Jokic and Anthony Edwards as the second and third-place finishers.

A global media panel of 100 voters selected the winner of the 2024-25 Kia NBA Clutch Player of the Year Award based on nominations from NBA head coaches.

The complete voting results ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/LBnGu52KQq

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 23, 2025

This new award is in its third year, with De’Aaron Fox and Steph Curry being the winners the past two seasons. Jokic finished 13th and fourth for the award the past two seasons.

In 2024-25, the Denver Nuggets’ center made the second-most shots in the clutch, tossed the second-most assists, snagged the third-most boards, and scored the fourth-most points. He tallied 140 points on 50 field goals made with an effective field goal percentage of 60.3, which was the best among the 20 players with 25 or more makes in the clutch this season. Joker’s 36 assists was just one behind the league lead of Trae Young’s 37, and the Hawk had a few more games go into clutch time.

Jokic’s closing was just a part of his All-Star season, where he became the third player in NBA history to average a triple-double for the whole season. Across 70 games, Jokic averaged 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists per contest. He led the league with 34 triple-doubles and his Player Efficiency Rating, Box Plus-Minus and Value Over Replacement Player were all tops in the NBA. Jokic’s BPM was second-best in NBA history this season and his PER was fourth-best for a single season in league history.

Brunson scored 156 points in clutch time on a league-best 52 field goals made while shooting 51.5 field goal percentage. The Knicks finished third in the East with 51 wins.

Jokic is not expected to win a fourth Most Valuable Player Award when the NBA announces that in the coming weeks. He will likely be the runner-up to Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who led his team to a league-best 68 wins.