Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic of Sombor, Serbia has been named the National Basketball Association most valuable player award winner for 2020-21 according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN on Tuesday. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver interrupted a Nuggets team meeting in Phoenix to give Jokic and his teammates the news.
Jokic becomes the sixth player born outside the United States to win the award. He follows Hakeem Olajuwon of Lagos, Nigeria, who won the award with the Houston Rockets (1994), Tim Duncan of the Virgin Islands, who won the award with the San Antonio Spurs (2002 and 2003), Steve Nash of Johannesburg, South Africa, who won the award with the Phoenix Suns (2005 and 2006), Dirk Nowitzki of Wurzburg, Germany, who won the award with the Dallas Mavericks (2007), and Giannis Antetokounmpo of Athens, Greece, who won the award with the Milwaukee Bucks (2019 and 2020). It should be noted that Nash competed internationally for Canada, as he was raised in Victoria, British Columbia, while Duncan competed for the United States.
Jokic also became the first player ever drafted in the second round to be named MVP, and the first ever Denver Nuggets player to receive the honour. In the regular season, Jokic averaged a career-high 26.4 points per game, 10.8 rebounds per game, and 8.3 assists per game. He had a field goal percentage of .566, a three-point percentage of .388, and a free throw percentage of .868. Jokic also led the NBA this year in field goals made (732).
Jokic’s next focus is to help Denver go deep into the playoffs. They are currently trailing the Phoenix Suns one game to none in the Western Conference semifinals.
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