By Erwin Quiñonez
09 May 2024, 00:36 AM EDT
The center of the Denver Nuggets, the Serbian Nikola Jokic, was chosen this Wednesday as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the NBA in the 2024 season, his third recognition of this time in the last four seasons.
Canadian Shai Gilgeous Alexander, of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who also had an extraordinary season, was second on the list, while Slovenia’s Luka Doncic, of the Dallas Mavericks, came in third place in the designation.
Jokic received a total of 79 votes; Gilgeous Alexander was second with 15, while Doncic received only 4.
With this new recognition, Jokic confirms himself as one of the best players in the NBA in the last five years. His first MVP was 2020-2021, then he achieved it again in 2021-2022. In 2022-2023, there was controversy, because the award went to Joel Embiid, center of the Philadelphia 76ers, when the Serbian had better numbers.
The European, who currently leads the Denver Nuggets in the playoffs, averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds and 9 assists per game in the regular season. Numbers that were key for his team to qualify from second place to the postseason.
With the recognition announced this Wednesday, the leader of the Nuggets joins a select group, now nine players who have won it on at least three occasions. The list is made up of: Kareem Abdul Jabbar (6), Michael Jordan (5), Bill Russell (5), Wilt Chamberlain (4), LeBron James (4), Magic Johnson (3), Moses Malone (3) and Larry Bird (3).
As if that were not enough, the Serbian center achieved 25 triple doubles in the regular season. A figure that expresses how complete he is as a player, an attribute that has led him to dominate the game and be the current NBA champion.
In Doncic’s case, his campaign was also superlative. He averaged 33.9 points, 9.2 rebounds and 9.8 assists, while Gilgeous Alexander averaged 30.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game for the Thunder.
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