According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic has earned the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award for a second consecutive season.
While a formal announcement hasn’t been made, Woj’s sources indicate that the reigning MVP will capture the award in back to back seasons, making him only the 13th player in league history to accomplish the feat.
In a year where Denver was arguably missing its 2nd and 3rd best players for virtually the entire season, Jokic’s stats actually improved compared to his previous MVP campaign. The Serbian big man even created his own club in the process, becoming the first player to record 2000pts, 1000 rebounds, and 500 assists in a single season.
On the year Jokic averaged a 27.1pts/13.8reb/7.9ast/1.5stl/0.9blk statline, while shooting 58.3% from the field. His FG%, points, rebounds, steals, and blocks were all career highs.
The 27 year old was a finalist for the award this year with 76ers center Joel Embiid, and Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. While all three were deserving of the award, evidently voters enjoyed the narrative that Jokic’s stats went up during a season where teammates Jamal Murray missed the entire year with a torn ACL, and Michael Porter Jr. was limited to 9 games because of a back injury.
Even without two key players, the Nuggets managed to go 48-34 and finish in 6th place in the Western Conference. Denver would ultimately bow out in five games against the Golden State Warriors in round one.
Jokic led the Nuggets in virtually every offensive category except for free throw percentage, and 3 point field goal percentage in 2021-22.
Photo: Erik Drost. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.