Nuggets' Nikola Jokic Wins 2021 MVP

Source: Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic wins first NBA MVP award

Seven years ago, the Denver Nuggets used the 41st pick in the NBA draft on an unheralded center from Serbia.

This past Tuesday, that center, Nikola Jokic, won his first MVP award, becoming the sixth international player to do so.

Jokic was the runaway winner of the award, claiming 91 of the 101 first-place votes and 971 total points. He played all 72 regular-season games this season, one of just 11 players to accomplish that feat in this pandemic-shortened campaign, while also putting together one of the best statistical seasons in NBA history.

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry finished second and third, respectively, behind Jokic in the final voting, followed by Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, the winner the past two seasons, and Phoenix guard Chris Paul.

He also became the first center since Shaquille O'Neal in 2000, and the first Nuggets player ever, to win the league's top individual honor.

In addition to being available every night for Denver, Jokic finished the season with career-best averages of 26.4 points and 8.3 assists and tying a career best by averaging 10.8 rebounds. He also shot 56.6% from the field, 38.8% from 3-point range and 86.8% from the foul line. He led Denver into the second round of the playoffs despite injuries to three of Denver's guards -- Jamal Murray, Will Barton and PJ Dozier -- a feat that none of the other teams that made it to the conference finals of last year's playoffs in the bubble in Orlando, Florida -- the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat and Boston Celtics -- were able to match.

The combination of Jokic's play and availability gave him an unassailable case for the award in the eyes of the voters. He becomes the first player drafted in the second round to win the league's top individual honor in the common draft era (which means he set the record as the lowest-drafted player to win it), and also joins Hakeem Olajuwon, Tim Duncan, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki and Antetokounmpo as international winners of the award.

Winning MVP also means that Jokic will be eligible to sign a supermax contract extension with the Nuggets following the 2021-22 season -- a five-year deal that would be well in excess of $250 million.