Denver Nuggets star center Nikola Jokic is a finalist for the 2022-23 NBA MVP award. If he is able to beat out Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo for the Association’s top individual honor, Jokic will become just the fourth player in league history to win three consecutive NBA MVP awards.
The list is pretty exclusive at this point. It includes Basketball Hall of Famers Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Larry Bird.
One day after he put up a stirring performance in a Game 2 win over the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference Semifinals, Jokic doesn’t seem to care whether he comes away with the hardware.
“I don’t really think about it. Like zero interest,” Nikola Jokic on Tuesday’s NBA MVP announcement, via ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk.
Jokic actually said he’d like to be in the pool when the announcement is made ahead of the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks playoff game Tuesday evening.
Jokic has to be seen as an underdog to come away with the award. While he did put up another banner regular season for the Nuggets, Embiid seems to be the clear-cut favorite to win his first ever NBA award.
Related: Nikola Jokic and the top 2023 NBA MVP candidates
Nikola Jokic has more to worry about than the NBA MVP
One day after putting up a 39-points, 16-rebound performance in a win over the Suns, Jokic and his Nuggets find themselves up 2-0 in the Western Conference Semifinal series.
For the two-time NBA MVP, it’s more about hoisting that Larry O’Brien than any individual accolade at this point in his career. He made that clear after winning his first award.
“I’d rather win a championship than win an MVP,” Jokic said back in 2021.
About that? The Nuggets are pretty much one win away from kissing Phoenix goodbye in a series that has not been too competitive through two games. If the Nuggets are able to come out on top Friday night in the desert, they’ll take a commanding 3-0 series lead. No team has ever come back from that deficit in a seven-game series.
- Nikola Jokic stats (2022-23): 24.5 PPG, 11.8 RPG, 9.8 APG, 63% shooting
As you can see, Jokic put up some brilliant numbers for a Denver team that finished the regular season with the best record in the Western Conference.