The Joker Has Done It Again, Batman. Nikola Jokić Wins His 3rd NBA MVP Award In 4 Years.

If you didn’t know who Nikola Jokic is and you happened to bump into him in the wild, your first impression would be that this guy is tall and reminds you of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters. I doubt you would have him pegged as a 3-time NBA MVP.

On Wednesday evening, Nikola Jokić was named NBA MVP for a third time in four seasons, joining other NBA greats who have also won three MVPs. The list includes Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Moses Malone, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, and LeBron James, who are the only other three-time winners.

"It's got to start with the teammates; without them, I cannot do nothing," Jokic said Wednesday on TNT after being named MVP. "Coaches, players, organization, medical staff, strength coaches, development coaches. It is all one big circle. But I cannot be whatever I am without them."

He shot 58.3% from the field and earned his sixth consecutive All-Star bid while leading the Nuggets to second place finish in the Western Conference with a 57-25 record.

The always-reliable Jokic only missed three games and in 79 regular-season games, he averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds, nine assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.9 blocks. 

What Does Head Coach Mike Malone Say?
"It's hard to differentiate greatness from greatness from greatness," Denver coach Michael Malone said in early April of how Jokic has gotten better from previous MVP seasons. "And then that's what he's been over multiple years now. I know the last six years now, we've had by far the best record in the Western Conference and only second of the NBA behind, I think, Milwaukee in that time."

"Nikola has matured, his ability to continue to make everyone around him better," Malone said. "And when you win a championship, and we're going to run it back, but in place of Bruce [Brown] and Jeff [Green], we're going to try to put young players in and the fact that we have a better record than we did last year.

"And we've had Jamal Murray miss [23] games. It speaks to Nikola understanding it's still my responsibility as a great player to help [the younger role players] as well as all the other guys to understand what their roles are, how to play on both ends of the floor and, most importantly, make those guys better."