Denver Nuggets Centre, Nikola Jokic has won the Most Valuable Player for the 2020-21 season and is the 1st Denver Nuggets Player to Win the prestigious award.
Nikola Jokic was a late second-round pick – 41st in Round 2, which is the least favored player are drafted in the team as a formality. 95% of the players who are picked up at this range of Draft Picks go to play in the G-League and eventually abroad due to a much competitive scenario in the NBA. The NBA had so very less faith in him, that he was drafted in the middle of a Taco Bell ad during the draft.
Jokic is the lowest rank NBA Player in the History of the Game to be awarded the MVP – previous lowest-ranked MVPs – Giannis Antetokoumpo and Steve Nash who were drafted in Round 1’s respectively. Another player to add to this discussion is Philadelphia 76ers legend Moses Malone who won the MVP where he was not even selected in the NBA Draft.
Nikola Jokic has been a quick rise; He was a 7-foot heavy runner and used to always be an average player on the court before the last season. During the COVID-19 lockdown, Jokic went back to Serbia and lost almost 25-30 points of his body fat and gained the much-needed agility to move around the court and not get tired. After receiving the award, Jokic Mentions
To be honest, I didn't even think about being in the NBA, my goal when I started to play basketball back home was to play in the EuroLeague because that was the closest top league to my country. I could play in some big clubs in Serbia and grind my way up. But then the Denver Nuggets drafted me, and it was an opportunity for me to become an NBA player – Jokic said this to TNT’s Inside the NBA crew.
It is very surprising that a 6’11ft Centre to have point guard skills and vision capabilities on the court. Traditionally the Centers are supposed to get in the paint and dunk in the ball like Shaq. One of the major reasons Jokic winning the MVP as he appeared in all 72 games of the regular season. He was constantly in the Top 3 in the conversation – however, injuries to LeBron James, James Harden, Joel Embiid, and a few of the NBA candidates gave him an Upper hand in the MVP Voting
Season Stats :
Games | Minutes | Points | Assists | Rebound | Steals | Blocks | FG% | 3PT % |
72 | 34.6 | 26.4 | 8.3 | 10.8 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 56.6% | 38.8% |
This season was Jokic’s career best in terms of Points, Assists, Field Goal Percentages and 3 Point Shooting Percentage
KIA NBA MVP Vote Count :
1. Nikola Jokic – 91 Votes – Denver Nuggets
2. Stephen Curry – 5 Votes – Golden State Warriors
3. Giannis Antetokoumpo – 1 Vote – Milwaukee Bucks
4. Joel Embiid – 1 Vote – Philadelphia 76ers
5. Derrick Rose – 1 Vote – New York Knicks
Records Broken by Joker on his route to MVP :
1. Most Assists by a center in the NBA History – 599
Also, Jokic finished 3rd in the Season Assists
2. No player touched the ball more than Nikola Jokic – 7269 Touches
It was 1077 more than any player in the list
3. A total of 3388 points scored or created
He finished the season with 1,898 points he scored himself and another 1,490 he created with his assists. Those 3,388 total points scored or created ranked second in the league — just 14 points shy of Washington’s Russell Westbrook (3,402).
