Nikola Jokic did it again. And he knows how to celebrate it: he may not have three liters of Coca Cola as he did every day in his childhood and youth, but the festival has everything he wants: beer, friends, family and horses, of course, the vice. who stands out whenever his season in the world’s top basketball league ends. It happens that the Denver Nuggets crack was picked as NBA regular season MPV for the second consecutive Year. And he received the award in Sombor, the place where he was born and raised in Serbia, even in the way he became emotional.

Despite Denver’s irregular season being eliminated by Golden State in the first game of the playoffs, Jokic is the most important player of the 2021-2022 regular season. And upon achieving it for the second consecutive year, he entered a gallery dedicated to thirteen names with tremendous history in American basketball. as which? Make a note of: Kareem Abdul-JabbarGiannis Antetokounmpo Larry BirdWilt Chamberlain, Stephen Curry, Tim Duncan, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Michael JordanMoses Malone, Steve Nash and Bill Russell.

Along these lines, it should be clarified that LeBron has won MVP two consecutive years on several occasions and on two different teams. Also, Bird (whose name will carry one of the new NBA awards) has three in a row, the same as Chamberlain. Besides, Jordan and Magic split the MVP between them for six consecutive seasons.

Returning to Jokic, what are the merits that the Serbian has achieved this new recognition. Far from the spectacle of the historic 23 of the Chicago Bulls (MJ of course) or the aesthetic perfection that Kobe Bryant has shown in his moves (who has only once been MVP in his career), Jokic is a true record-breaker. He finished the regular season with 27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game. His metrics are astronomical, so much so that he became the first player in league history to score 2,000 points, get 1,000 rebounds and 500 assists … in one season.

Besides, Nikola was the sixth foreigner to win the MVP. The others are Greek Antetokoumpo, Canadian Steve Nash, Nigerian Hakeem Olajuwon (who in 1984 was selected in the draft ahead of Jordan himself), Tim Duncan who was born in the Virgin Islands (but played for the American National Team) and the German Dirk Nowitzki. Of course, the fact that it has been achieved twice and in a row gives it greater value.