Although Nikola Jokic did not win his third consecutive Most Valuable Player title this season, he did get an MVP trophy.
Jokic was voted NBA Finals MVP after the Denver Nuggets beat the Miami Heat 94-89 in Game 5 at Ball Arena.
Jokic finished the game against Miami with 28 points, 16 rebounds, and four assists to help the Nuggets capture their first NBA championship. The Heat, like the Nuggets’ other playoff opponents, had few answers for Jokic.
When asked how it feels to be an NBA champion, Jokic said on the floor to ESPN’s Lisa Salters, “It’s good.” It’s satisfactory. The task is over, and we may now go home.”
Before this championship run, Jokic, 28, was already regarded as one of the league’s greatest players. But now that he has a title and a Finals MVP, one NBA Hall of Famer believes the Serbian big man has reached a new level.
“It puts him in the legendary category for what he’s done statistically in the Finals,” Isiah Thomas, a former Detroit Pistons star, told ESPN. “I don’t know if there’s ever been a statistical run as a centre in the NBA Finals as he had in these categories.”
After years of debating who should have won the regular-season MVP amongst Jokic, Joel Embiid, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, Thomas said it’s difficult to dispute who is the greatest player in the world.
“Hey, right now, when you’re the champ and your team [wins the title], you’re the best player and team,” Thomas, the 1990 Finals MVP, remarked. “And it might not be for another five years.” But, for now, he is the greatest player. And the greatest squad is the Denver Nuggets. What a great moment to have for yourself if you can claim, ‘I’m the best in the world,’ even if just for a day or a year. Then you’ll be stamped. And everyone realises it. There is no higher sensation.”
According to ESPN Stats & Information, Jokic is the lowest-selected player (41st overall in the second round in 2014) to earn the Finals MVP, overtaking Dennis Johnson, who was picked 29th overall in 1979. He also became the third second-round selection in NBA history to earn Finals MVP, after Willis Reed and Magic Johnson (Moses Malone won Finals MVP with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1983 but was not picked by an NBA club since he began his career in the ABA with the Utah Stars).
Jokic, like Antetokounmpo, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, and Hakeem Olajuwon, is the first player born outside of the United States to win the Finals MVP title. And he did it by putting together one of the greatest postseason runs of all time. Until the Finals, he averaged a triple-double. During this stretch, he recorded ten triple-doubles, eight of which came in a 12-game period.
Jokic put up some impressive numbers, including 53 points and 11 rebounds in Game 4 of the second round against the Phoenix Suns, and being the first player in Finals history to achieve a 30-20-10 triple-double with 32 points, 21 rebounds, and 10 assists in Game 3 against Miami.
“Jokic is an all-time great,” Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns remarked after Jokic averaged 34.5 points, 13.2 rebounds, and 10.3 assists against the Suns. “Will go down as one of the greatest centres to ever touch a basketball.”
Jokic’s Nuggets defeated Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards in the first round, Phoenix’s Devin Booker and Durant in the second round, and the Lakers’ LeBron James and Anthony Davis in the conference finals before defeating Jimmy Butler and the Heat.
“I know how great he is,” James said of Jokic after the Nuggets beat the Lakers in the first round. “I’m aware of Jokic’s greatness. There are some people in this league that play the game a particular way, a way that I want to play the game as well, and he’s one of those players who keeps you off-balance because of his ability to score, rebound, and shoot. He anticipates plays.There aren’t many men like him in our league. So, from the outset of the series, you knew you were up against a beast, and not only in terms of his playing. Everyone gets excited about his numbers, but I don’t believe many people discuss [the mental aspect] of his game. Perhaps it is rarely discussed because many people do not comprehend it, but I do. He’s one-of-a-kind.”
As James alluded to, Jokic was embroiled in a controversy about whether he should earn a third consecutive MVP award in 2022-23, putting him in exclusive company with Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, and Bill Russell.
This season, Jokic seemed to become tired of the debate over who should win the MVP award amongst himself, Embiid, and Antetokounmpo. Following his back-to-back MVPs, Jokic faced criticism from some who said he wasn’t the greatest player in the NBA.
It became louder as critics referred to Jokic’s 29 triple-doubles throughout the regular season. Some have compared Jokic to this generation’s Steve Nash, a team-first passer who had dazzling numbers but wasn’t the greatest player of his period or capable of winning a championship.
Jokic often deflected MVP questions by claiming that he didn’t care about earning the award and was just interested in leading his team to a title. However, after recording his 100th career triple-double against the Houston Rockets on Feb. 28, Jokic revealed that he had heard some of the criticism about why he didn’t deserve to be named MVP again.
“When you’re stat padding, it’s easy, you know,” Jokic remarked of his triple-double achievement.
When asked whether he had heard the term “stat padder,” Jokic said, “Of course.” It is correct.”
Some even used race as a justification for Embiid not being named MVP until earning it for the first time this season. (In this year’s vote, Jokic came in second.)
Michael Malone, the head coach of the Denver Nuggets, couldn’t stand by and do nothing to support Jokic.
Following the Nuggets’ sweeping of the Lakers, Malone was asked what Jokic has shown so far in his playoff tear.
“I think he’s showing other people nationally that he’s genuine,” Malone said last month. “As if what he’s doing is genuine.” The MVPs exist. Triple-doubles are a genuine thing. This year’s ridiculous tales are just ridiculous and rather dumb. “Have you noticed any stat padding out there? I’m not joking. Enough of this nonsense. He’s a fantastic athlete. Give him his due. Stop slicing off his knees.”
Finals MVP is only the latest award for Jokic’s brilliant performance. But it also comes with the Larry O’Brien Trophy, which he really coveted.
Jokic has always said that he is more concerned with the team’s success than with individual honours.
Teammate Jamal Murray feels Jokic can only improve. With little success, opposing defences threw everything at Jokic.
“He’s been doing that for so long at all levels,” Murray said. “He won his first MVP, and his numbers improved during his second MVP.” And his statistics have improved. “Jok, I believe, has more to offer. We haven’t seen a side of Jok that we will see where he can be full domination all the way through the game, even more than he has been.”
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