There’s a reason why Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is the two-time reigning NBA MVP. A bad Charlotte Hornets team found this out big time Sunday evening despite playing much better than most anticipated.
Jokic took the court for 40 minutes in the game, recording 40 points to go with an absurd 27 rebounds and 10 assists on 13-of-26 shooting from the field. Denver was minus-16 in the eight minutes that Jokic rested. The team was plus-20 in his 40 minutes of action.
What we saw from Jokic as he led Denver to a narrow 119-115 home win defied logic. Simply put, he was on one.
You read that right. Jokic is the first NBA player to put up this stat line since the great Wilt Chamberlain accomplished the feat for the Philadelphia 76ers during the 1967-68 season. Taking on the Los Angeles Lakers in March of 1968, Wilt scored 53 points while grabbing 32 rebounds and dishing out 14 assists.
When you’re being compared to someone of that ilk, it’s time to take a step back and realize just how special your performance was.
“I’m just really thankful he (Jokić) is wearing a Nuggets uniform,” head coach Mike Malone said after the game. Ya think?
In recent history, only the likes of Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, LeBron James (twice) and Steve Nash have won back-to-back NBA MVP awards.
The last player to win three consecutive MVP awards was Larry Bird with the Boston Celtics back in the mid-1980s. He joined Bill Russell and the aforementioned Chamberlain on that exclusive list. Even before what we saw Sunday night in Mile High, Jokic was certainly proving that his candidacy is on the upswing.
- Nikola Jokic stats (past five games): 34.4 PPG, 14.8 RPG, 9.8 APG
Denver currently finds itself at 18-11 and as the third seed in the Western Conference. As long as the team continues playing well with Jokic doing his thing, another MVP could be in the cards this coming summer.
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