{"id":76696,"date":"2024-05-09T06:38:08","date_gmt":"2024-05-09T10:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=76696"},"modified":"2024-05-09T06:38:08","modified_gmt":"2024-05-09T10:38:08","slug":"nuggets-nikola-jokic-third-mvp-places-top-10-all-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/09\/nuggets-nikola-jokic-third-mvp-places-top-10-all-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Second-Round Pick\u2019s Third MVP Places Him Top-10 All-Time"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As expected, Denver Nuggets center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jokicni01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nikola Jokic<\/a> has been announced as the winner of the 2023-24 NBA Most Valuable Player Award after leading his team to a 57-25 record and No. 2 seed in the West.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The complete voting results for the 2023-24 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Dqbd7MaRjC\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/Dqbd7MaRjC<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NBA Communications (@NBAPR) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBAPR\/status\/1788353222828024196?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 8, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The former second-round pick averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds, 9.0 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game in 2023-24. He scored 1.07 points per possession in isolation and 1.14 points per possession on post-ups, ranking in the 80th percentile in both categories.<\/p>\n<h2>Nikola Jokic\u2019s Third MVP Places Him Top-10 All-Time<\/h2>\n<p>Jokic has now won three MVP awards in four seasons, joining a pantheon of NBA greats that includes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jamesle01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LeBron James<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/russebi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bill Russell<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/abdulka01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kareem Abdul-Jabbar<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/chambwi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Wilt Chamberlain<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/birdla01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Larry Bird<\/a>. He also joins James and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jordami01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Michael Jordan<\/a> as the only players to win at least three MVP awards since 1990.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Players with 3+ MVP awards since 1990:<\/p>\n<p>Michael Jordan<br \/>\nLeBron James<br \/>\nNikola Jokic<\/p>\n<p>Three GOATs. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/I19JnkdPZb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/I19JnkdPZb<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 StatMuse (@statmuse) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/statmuse\/status\/1788351742171648240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 8, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Already considered an all-time great, Jokic has now reached top-10 status with his incredible resume.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Nikola Jokic:<\/p>\n<p>3x MVP<br \/>\n6x All-Star<br \/>\n5x All-NBA<br \/>\nNBA Champion<br \/>\nFinals MVP<\/p>\n<p>Top __ all-time. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/N2v5jWHXBE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/N2v5jWHXBE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 StatMuse (@statmuse) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/statmuse\/status\/1788351715630026837?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 8, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>As he\u2019s also a six-time All-Star, five-time All-NBA selection and the 2023 NBA Finals MVP, the only players that undoubtedly have had better careers than Jokic are Jordan, James, Russell, Abdul-Jabbar, Chamberlain, Bird, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/duncati01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tim Duncan<\/a>. Due to his success in the NBA Finals, many will point to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/curryst01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stephen Curry<\/a> as well. However, no matter how people slice it, only a handful of players that can stake that claim.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s stupefying in and of itself. When considering his pre-draft evaluation and his evolution since his 2015 debut, it\u2019s even harder to process. Indeed, of all the players mentioned, Jokic is the only one who was selected outside of the NBA Draft lottery.<\/p>\n<h3>The Most Unexpected MVP<\/h3>\n<p>Entering the league as a chubby but skilled pivot with an unorthodox game, Jokic has matured physically and mentally. He\u2019s no <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/thurmna01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nate Thurmond<\/a>, but he\u2019s taken the bull by the horns in regard to his physical conditioning. His mental processing was always a natural talent but experience has taken his basketball IQ to a whole new level. On the court he\u2019<em>s rex machina<\/em>, a supercomputer who alters a game from start to finish <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/04\/22\/lakers-legend-compares-nikola-jokic-to-two-all-timers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">with his understanding of it<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>However, Jokic\u2019s also grown as man over the years and his intangibles with him. He\u2019s more vocal than in years past and a better leader because of it. While his counting stats may be the primary determinant when considering his MVP-worthiness, that psychological factor is another one.<\/p>\n<h3>NBA Mount Rushmore?<\/h3>\n<p>Jokic\u2019s story is still being written.<\/p>\n<p>The Sombor is still relatively young in NBA years and could play for another decade if he wants. Though his off-court interests and family values suggests that he may retire a bit earlier than that, his love for the game and drive to succeed leave that door open. If so, it\u2019ll be interesting to see just how many more MVP awards (and NBA championships) he wins.<\/p>\n<p>With any more of either, he may break into Mount Rushmore conversations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As expected, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic has been announced as the winner of the 2023-24 NBA Most Valuable Player Award after leading his team to a 57-25 record and No. 2 seed in the West. The complete voting results for the 2023-24 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player. pic.twitter.com\/Dqbd7MaRjC \u2014 NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 8, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":76701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,1608,62,3],"tags":[1143,72],"class_list":["post-76696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nuggets","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","tag-nba-awards","tag-nikola-jokic"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}