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Nuggets' Nikola Jokic wins 2020-21 NBA MVP Award

By Zac Wassink | Last updated Jun 8, 2021 6:43 PM ET

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic has been the NBA's best passing big man for some time but can now add something else to his resume: Most Valuable Player.

The Athletic's Shams Charania was first to report that Jokic has been named MVP for the 2020-21 NBA season. The 26-year-old selected No. 41 in the 2014 NBA Draft is the lowest drafted player to ever earn the honor and also the first Nuggets player to win MVP.

Jokic averaged 26.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per game en route to helping Denver secure the No. 3 spot in the Western Conference standings. Per Mike Singer of The Denver Post, Jokic also led the NBA with 60 double-doubles and finished the regular season second with 16 triple-doubles.

Jokic beat out Golden State Warriors superstar and two-time award winner Stephen Curry and also Philadelphia 76ers starting center Joel Embiid.

Zac Wassink

Zac Wassink is a longtime sports news writer and PFWA member who began his career in 2006 and has had his work featured on Yardbarker, MSN, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. He is also a football and futbol aficionado who is probably yelling about Tottenham Hotspur at the moment and who chanted for Matt Harvey to start the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field. You can find him on X at @ZacWassink

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