AP Photo/Jeff Chiu
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic has reportedly won the NBA MVP award for the second straight season.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the league is expected to make a formal announcement this week.
With that, Jokic would become the 13th player in NBA history to win MVP awards in back-to-back seasons.
Jokic led the league in player efficiency rating (32.8), win shares (15.2), box plus/minus (13.7) and value over replacement player (9.8), per Basketball Reference. On the season, Jokic averaged 27.1 points on 58.3 percent shooting, 13.8 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game.
Denver played the entire season without point guard Jamal Murray, who was averaging 21.2 points per game last year before suffering a torn ACL in April 2021. He has not played since. Michael Porter Jr. (19.0 PPG in 2020-21) only played nine games this year after having lumbar spine surgery.
Despite losing their second- and third-leading scorers from last season, Denver posted a 48-34 record and finished sixth in the Western Conference, good enough to qualify for the playoffs outright for the fourth straight year.
That’s in large part because of Jokic, whose sensational seventh NBA season guided Denver back to the playoffs. Despite missing Murray and Porter, Denver still finished sixth in offensive rating, per Basketball Reference.
Jokic was one of three NBA MVP award finalists alongside Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid.
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