It didn't help that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Oklahoma City Thunder to win the Western Conference. Nor that Luka Doncic boosted the situation of the Dallas Mavericks and, this time, qualify them for the Playoffs. Finally, Nikola Jokic received the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award; the third he has obtained since he arrived from his native country of Serbia in 2015 to play for the Denver Nuggets. This year makes it his third MVP award in the last four years.
The 2023-24 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player is... Nikola Jokic!#NBAAwards | #KiaMVP | @Kia pic.twitter.com/vvgSrHCHU9
— NBA (@NBA) May 8, 2024
The 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds and 9 assists that Jokic averaged during the regular season were reason enough for the best basketball league in the world to grant him such a distinction. There were some doubts about whether he would win this season's MVP, considering the impressive performances of the other two candidates for the trophy. Although it must be noted that the Serbian center managed to improve two of his records per game (points and rebounds) compared to his statistics from last season and guide, once again, the Colorado franchise towards the Playoffs.
Nikola Jokic is the 2023-24 #KiaMVP! @Kia
26.4 PPG
12.4 RPG
9.0 APG
1.4 SPG
58.3 FG% pic.twitter.com/wUh0VykaQF— NBA (@NBA) May 9, 2024
With this new award, the Nuggets star puts himself on par with other legends such as Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Moses Malone. And, at 29 years old and with several seasons still to play in the NBA if his health allows it, and he continues with this performance, he will have a chance to catch up with other legends such as LeBron James (4), Wilt Chamberlain (4), Michael Jordan ( 5), Bill Russell (5) and the one who alone leads this ranking, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (6).
In true Nikola fashion pic.twitter.com/4FOasruQrA
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) May 9, 2024
Sixth consecutive year without an American MVP
None of the three nominees were born in the United States: Jokic (Serbia), Doncic (Slovenia) and Gilgeous-Alexander (Canada). Therefore, we knew in advance that, again, the trophy would go to an international player.
It is the sixth consecutive year that a foreign basketball player has managed to be the MVP of the regular season. Last year, it was Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid who, although he recently received American nationality and will represent the Stars and Stripes team at the 2024 Paris Olympics, was born in Cameroon.
Below are the last ten MVP winners of the season :
- 2023-2024: Nikola Jokic.
- 2022-2023: Joel Embiid.
- 2021-2022: Nikola Jokic.
- 2020-2021: Nikola Jokic.
- 2019-2020: Giannis Antetokounmpo.
- 2018-2019: Giannis Antetokounmpo.
- 2017-2018: James Harden.
- 2016-2017: Russell Westbrook.
- 2015-2016: Stephen Curry.
- 2014-2015: Stephen Curry.
