One of the most amazing players in recent years is the good-natured giant from Serbia. Nikola Jokic, the best player of the Denver Nuggets, changed the game entirely with his presence on the court. The scouts decided to give this player a chance to demonstrate his skills on the biggest stage in 2015/16, and he delivered! He is in the center of the best Denver team in its history, and the most responsible one for the only NBA title in their history. Some of the team’s greatest achievements were in the past few years when the Serbian player was made the franchise’s star player. Besides Denver’s successes, Nikola has proven his importance and skills by winning the three MVP titles in the last four years. The question is, can he do it again?
Nikola Jokic in the NBA
It may sound incredible, even crazy, from this point of view, but Nikola was selected as the 41st pick from the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft. It may be one of the best scouting jobs in the modern NBA, as the rewards for Denver are incredible—much like those found on deadspin.com. He became a rising star in the league, with the NBA All-Rookie Team reward. His achievements since then are amazing, and some of the awards he received are: four-time All-NBA Team member (2019, 2021, 2022, 2024), NBA Conference Finals MVP (2023), played in every NBA All-Star game since 2019, NBA Finals MVP (2023), and won the NBA title in the same year.
Nikola brought his style of play to the NBA, making his role in the Denver team and the whole NBA league a unique one. He plays in the center position; however, he plays more as a playmaker for the team. Joker’s main qualities are his fast thinking, court vision, unselfishness, and physical attributes to match all previous skills. This makes him not only a scoring threat but also an assisting monster, and a rebound guarantee. An all-round player by the definition of that word. If his teammates stutter when it comes to shooting percentage, he is not afraid to show his ability in that category.
MVP Awards
The NBA Most Valuable Player or MVP award is given on an annual basis to the best-performing player of the regular season. The trophy is also known as the Micheal Jordan Trophy, named after the best player ever to play in the NBA and a five-time winner. That is the new name, as the previous one was after the first NBA commissioner, Maurice Podoloff. In the past four years, Nikola Jokic has won it on an incredible 3 occasions! 2020/21, 2021/22, and 2023/24, except for 2022/23 when it went into the hands of Joel Embiid with a lot of controversy, as Nikola was dominant in that season as well. However, that was the season in which Denver and Jokic won the league.
Conclusion
This season Denver might not be the favorite for the title or even the strongest team in its conference, but that doesn’t mean that the 2022/23 champions can’t pull off an upset! Even if they can’t, there is no doubt that Nikola Jokic is probably the most dominant player in the NBA now. In the match against the Clippers, he scored 41 points, with a personal record of seven 3 pts scored, and in the next one against the Raptors, he brought his team victory with 40 points total. Sure, certain players are better than him in specific categories, but his all-round abilities make Nikola an unstoppable machine for opponents.