A year ago, some commentators objected to the idea of Nikola Jokic getting a third MVP trophy without having won anything in the postseason (ignoring that it is a regular season award).
No one should complain now: Jokic won his third NBA MVP award. Jokic becomes the ninth player in NBA history to win three or more MVPs.
Jokic earned 79 first-place votes out of 99 cast by a panel of media members. Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished second and Dallas’ Luka Doncic was third.
Jokic’s numbers are worthy of MVP: 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds and 9 assists per game, 35.9% from triples, 25 triple-doubles, and the advanced statistics love him more than the conventional ones.
However, statistics don’t tell the whole story for Jokic. He differs from other superstars because he controls the game without dominating the ball. There are other talented passers and scorers, like Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but the ball lives in his hands. Jokic is more of a puppet master, pulling the strings of the game and making it follow his path. That’s why he turns good players like Aaron Gordon and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope into key cogs on a championship team.