Nikola Jokic becomes the ninth player in NBA history, and first foreign player, to win at least three MVP awards. He defeated finalists Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic in runaway fashion.
Ever since the NBA announced its three finalists for the Most Valuable Player award for the 2023–24 season, many have assumed it was just a matter of time until Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic collected his third trophy.
Their assumptions were right as Jokic was named the league’s MVP on Wednesday night, joining the two awards he won in the 2020–21 and 2021–22 seasons. Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks were the three finalists, but Jokic easily outpaced his two contemporaries in voting. Jokic finished with 79 of the 99 first-place votes, followed by Gilgeous-Alexander (15), Doncic (four), with Giannis Antetokounmpo of Milwaukee received the one other first-place vote.
The overall voting had Jokic with 926 points, with Gilgeous-Alexander runner-up (640 points) and Doncic third (566). A total of eight players received votes with Antetokounmpo fourth, Jalen Brunson of the Knicks fifth, Jayson Tatum of the Celtics sixth, Anthony Edwards of the Timberwolves seventh, Domantas Sabonis of the Kings eighth, and Kevin Durant of the Suns ninth.
With the finalists being Jokic from Serbia, Doncic from Slovenia, and Gilgeous-Alexander from Canada, it was guaranteed that a foreign-born player would win the award for the sixth straight season. There were just four winners born outside of the United States during the first 72 seasons of the NBA.
In his eighth NBA season, Jokic averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 9.0 assists per game, ranking in the top 10 in all three stats. It was just the second season in NBA history in which a player averaged at least 25 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists, joining Oscar Robertson in 1961–62. Jokic also shot 58.3 percent from the field and posted 25 triple-doubles as he led the Nuggets to the second seed in the Western Conference and a 57–25 overall record, which ties for the third-best mark in franchise history.
With the win, Jokic becomes the ninth player in NBA history with at least three MVP awards, but he also became the first to accomplish another feat. By winning the NBA Finals MVP award last season as the Nuggets won their first championship in franchise history, Jokic becomes the first player to win either an NBA MVP or Finals MVP in four straight seasons.
The only players with more regular season MVP awards than Jokic are LeBron James and Wilt Chamberlain (four each), Michael Jordan and Bill Russell (five each), and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (six).
This season is the first in which the NBA established a minimum games played criteria in order to be eligible for end-of-season awards such as MVP. Players must have played in at least 65 of the 82 games, and they must have been on the court for at least 20 minutes during those 65 games. With that threshold in place, last year’s MVP winner, Joel Embiid, was ineligible for the award after playing in 39 games even though he ended up leading the NBA with 34.7 points per game.
Considered one of the most selfless athletes in all of sports, Jokic was deferential when asked by Ernie Johnson of TNT where he would begin with recognition for the award.
“It’s got to start with my teammates,” Jokic replied. “Without them, I’m nothing, and without them, I cannot do nothing. Coaches, players, organization, medical staff, strength coaches, development coaches. It’s all one big circle that, I cannot be where I am without them.”
He then credited a handful of individuals within the Nuggets when asked who most helped him get to this point as a three-time NBA MVP winner.
“Since I’ve came here to Denver and the Nuggets organization, individually I’m working with three people,” Jokic said. “It’s [athletic trainer] Jason Miller, it’s [strength and conditioning coach] Felipe [Eichenberger] and it’s [assistant coach] Ogi [Stojakovic]. It’s those guys who’ve worked with me closely, and of course coach [Michael Malone], who I’ve been with eight years. And Jamal [Murray] is the guy I played with the most in this organization. And my family—they’re always with me, always around me.”
While winning the MVP award is certainly a great honor, it hasn’t been a predictor of postseason success for recent winners, including the last two times Jokic won. Prior to this season, the last eight MVP winners failed to win an NBA championship in the season they won the award. Steph Curry in 2014–15 was the last MVP winner to then go on to win the championship that season.
Jokic and the Nuggets lost in the second round of the playoffs when he won in 2020–21 and then lost in the first round when he repeated a season later. On the night he won his third MVP award, Jokic and the Nuggets find themselves in an 0–2 hole in the second round of the playoffs to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
