Serbian Nikola Jokic, star teammate of Argentine Facundo Campazzo in the Denver Nuggets, was named MVP, the jMost valuable player of the 2020-2021 NBA season.
The consecrating forcefulness of the numbers of one of the most versatile pivots in the league made it a sung option for this Tuesday’s election. Dokic averaged 26.4 points per game -the best statistical record of his career-, with 8.3 assists and 10.8 rebounds.
Two passes from average a triple-double per game, the incidence of Campazzo’s favorite receiver in the game explains the advance of the Nuggets, who are already playing in the Western Conference semifinal series against the Phoenix Suns.
At 2.10m tall and with an astonishing ability to put together a game from center position, Dokic was chosen over strong options like multi-award winning guard Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors and the rising figure of Cameroonian Joel Embiid of the Los Angeles. Philadelphia 76ers.
Jokic is the fourth international player to win the award after Canadian Steve Nash (2005, 2006), German Dirk Nowitzki (2007) and the Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo (2019, 2020), not counting the awards of Hakeem Olajuwon (1994) and Tim Duncan (2002, 2002), American nationalized players.
In addition, at 26 years old, he is the winner who was the lowest draft pick to win an MVP -It was pick 41 in the 2014 edition- and the first player in Denver history in receiving the award.
“The best season of my life”
“As for the stats, you know, I think this was the best season of my life“Jokic said shortly after the award was announced.
“To be honest, I didn’t even think about being in the NBA when I started playing basketball at home,” Jokic recalled. “I was playing the Euro League, because it was the closest top league to my country. But then the Denver Nuggets selected me, it was a chance to become an NBA player, and I think I did a good job taking advantage of that opportunity. “
Dokic and Campazzo’s Nuggets closed a regular series with 47 wins and 15 losses, which ranked them third in the West.
Jokic, a three-time NBA All-Star, signed a maximum contract with Denver of five years for $ 148 million in 2018.
With AFP
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