Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic was named NBA Most Valuable Player on Tuesday for the second consecutive season. He is the 13th player to win back-to-back MVPs.
Jokic received 65 first-place votes and 875 points to outdistance Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (26 first-place votes, 706 points). Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (nine, 595) was third.
Nikola Jokic is in his native Serbia and learned he won the award after a ride on a horse. The 27-year-old was greeted by family and friends in celebratory fashion at a stable.
Jokic averaged 27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds, 7.9 assists and 1.47 steals in 74 games this season for the Nuggets. He led the NBA with 19 triple-doubles and became the first player in NBA history to record at least 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 500 assists in a season.
"I don't know what else you can say about Nikola at this point," Denver coach Michael Malone said. "He's consistently improved his game, he's consistently proven people wrong when they doubt him and he's consistently the best player on the floor night in and night out. I've said it many times before, I'm extremely grateful to coach Nikola Jokic and just as grateful for the bond that we've built off the court in our seven years together."
Jokic joins an elite club
The others to win consecutive MVPs are Antetokounmpo, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, Stephen Curry, Tim Duncan, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Moses Malone, Steve Nash and Bill Russell.
Nikola Jokic typically downplays his success but he is well aware he is now running with great company after a second MVP award.
"Right now, I don't think about it," Jokic said on TNT. "But when I'm old, fat and grumpy, hopefully I'm going to remember and tell my kids that back in the day I was pretty good at playing basketball.
"Everybody knows I'm the same guy so hopefully I'm going to stay the same after this. Just to be in that company of Wilt and all the guys that made history in this league and this sport. That tells a lot and means a lot to have a legacy like that."
Jokic: Outlier to MVP
Nikola Jokic, a four-time All-Star, wasn't even a first-round selection at the outset of his career. The Nuggets got him in the second round (41st overall) in the 2014 draft.
That was the same draft in which Embiid went third overall to the 76ers. He led the NBA with a 30.6 scoring average this season and also averaged 11.7 points and 4.2 assists in 68 games.
Antetokounmpo averaged 29.9 points, 11.6 rebounds and 5.8 assists in 67 games. He won his MVP awards for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons.
Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (216 points) and Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (146) rounded out the top five in the voting.
The balloting consisted of a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters.
