Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic wins MVP award
Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic won the league’s top prize.
Jokic beat Stephen Curry and Joel Embiid on Tuesday afternoon to win the 2020-21 MVP award, the league said.
Jokic has averaged 26.4 points and 10.8 rebounds per game this season, both career highs, while leading the Nuggets to the third seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
The 26-year-old is finishing his sixth season with Denver, who selected him with the No. 41 overall pick in 2014. Jokic is now the lowest pick in NBA history to win the award, and the only player in the Nuggets. history of winning the MVP award.
Jokic was actually drafted in a Taco Bell commercial during the draft that year and then did not make the trip from Serbia until 2015.
Jokic has also played in Denver’s 72 games this season, making him the first MVP to play in every game since Kobe Bryant won in 2008.
Jokic was one of three finalists nominated for the award, alongside Curry and Embiid. Curry has won the league scoring title this season averaging 32 points per game and averaging 5.3 points per game with the Golden State Warriors. Embiid recorded a career-high 28.5 points and 10.6 rebounds with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Embiid came second in the vote, and Curry came third. Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo – who just won back-to-back MVP wins – came in fourth, and Suns guard Chris Paul completed the top five.
The Nuggets are currently in the middle of their second-round playoff series with the Phoenix Suns. Denver lost Game 1 Monday night by 17 points, although Jokic lost 22 points and nine rebounds. He’s averaged better than 31 points and 10 rebounds throughout the playoffs so far.
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