Having the MVP of the NBA and NHL occupy the same building is exceptionally rare. Before 2024, it had only happened once—1989, when Los Angeles Lakers guard Magic Johnson and Los Angeles Kings center Wayne Gretzky both won their league's highest honors in the Great Western Forum.
In '24, however, it happened again. Sharing Ball Arena, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic won the NBA MVP award and Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon won the Hart Memorial Trophy.
That allowed the two players to experience a cool moment together: Jokic presented MacKinnon with his trophy, and MacKinnon presented Jokic with his.
Nathan MacKinnon returned the favour and brought Nikola Jokić his MVP Trophy 🤝🏆 pic.twitter.com/19z05oHUCF
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 26, 2024
Jokic has won three MVP awards over the course of his illustrious career. This was MacKinnon's first Hart, although he has finished in the top five of its voting four other times.
Both have shown signs of picking up right where they left off: Jokic has a 41-point outing and a triple-double in his first two games, and MacKinnon has 13 points in eight games.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as NBA MVP Nikola Jokić and NHL MVP Nathan MacKinnon Share an Awesome Cross-Sport Moment.
