History was made in Denver on Tuesday as Nuggets center Nikola Jokic was named NBA MVP for the 2020-21 season. Jokic becomes the sixth international player to win the award and the first center to win the award since Shaquille O’Neal in 1999-2000.
The Denver star claimed 91 first-place votes of a possible 101. Steph Curry finished second with five first-place votes followed by Chris Paul with two and Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo each receiving one. Derrick Rose also received one vote, but that vote came from the fans.
Jokic becomes the first player in Nuggets history to win the award and is also the lowest drafted player to ever win league MVP. Antetokounmpo and Steve Nash previously held the record after being drafted 15th overall.
On Tuesday Jokic met with the media and said, “this was the best season of my life.” Jokic had career highs in points per game averaging 26.4 and assists per game with 8.3. The Joker shot 56% from the field and just over 38% from 3-point range. The league MVP also finished the season tying a career best 10.8 rebounds per game.
Many people in the media believed that players like Chris Paul and Joel Embiid deserved to win the award over Jokic, but one stat stood out more than the others compared to those two players. The Serbian played in every game this season while the other candidates didn’t.
With Jokic winning the MVP award, he is now eligible for a supermax contract extension with Denver. That deal would come after the 2021-2022 season for five-years and around $250 million. That would total out to be the largest contract in NBA history.
Jokic led the Nuggets to the western conference finals last season before falling short to the Los Angeles Lakers in five games. This season Denver lost starters Jamal Murray and Will Barton, but Jokic is still leading the way for Denver as they continue their playoff run in the second round against the Phoenix Suns.
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