Why nuggets nikola jokic reportedly won nba mvp over 76ers

Joel Embiid may still be playing in the postseason but here's why Nikola Jokic deserves to win the MVP over the Sixers' big man.

Table of Contents Show

Report: Nikola Jokic captures 2nd straight NBA MVP award
Nuggets star Nikola Jokic makes history, named back-to-back NBA MVP
Nikola Jokic to join Jordan and Kareem with second-straight NBA MVP award
Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic to win second consecutive NBA MVP, league source confirms
3 reasons Nikola Jokic deserved MVP award

Read Full Article Posted By : Game Live Story

Report: Nikola Jokic captures 2nd straight NBA MVP award

Nikola Jokic has won his second consecutive MVP award after a season in which he finished with numbers never before seen in NBA history.

Read Full Article Posted By : Game Live Story

Nuggets star Nikola Jokic makes history, named back-to-back NBA MVP

Nikola Jokic is the first multiple-time MVP in Denver among the four major professional sports, and the 13th ever back-to-back NBA MVP

Read Full Article Posted By : Game Live Story

Nikola Jokic to join Jordan and Kareem with second-straight NBA MVP award

With a historic season, the Denver Nuggets big man has earned his second straight Most Valuable Player award, according to NBA sources

Read Full Article Posted By : Game Live Story

Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic to win second consecutive NBA MVP, league source confirms

The 2021-22 season hadn’t even formally started when Nikola Jokic set the tone for how he planned to handle the unwanted MVP inquiries lobbed in his direction.

Read Full Article Posted By : Game Live Story

Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images

Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic reportedly won the NBA's 2022 MVP award for the second straight year, beating out Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo and Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid for the honor.

Speaking to reporters after Philly's 120-85 Game 5 loss to the Miami Heat on Tuesday, Embiid congratulated Jokic for winning the award, which has yet to be officially announced. He also said "there's no right or wrong" answer between himself, Antetokounmpo, Jokic and even Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker for the honor.

Many believed Embiid, this year's scoring champion, should have been named the league's MVP after he put together the best statistical season of his career. He was also the first center since Shaquille O'Neal in 2000 to be named scoring champion.

The 28-year-old averaged 30.6 points, 11.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists while shooting 49.9 percent from the floor and 37.1 percent from deep in 68 regular-season games. He also averaged 1.1 steals and 1.5 block per game.

Embiid's career year helped the Sixers finish fourth in the Eastern Conference with a 51-31 record. They were technically tied for the second-best record in the East, but the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks earned the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, respectively, because of tiebreakers.

What's even more impressive about Embiid's performance is that he did it without a true No. 2 beside him as Ben Simmons sat out until he was eventually traded to the Brooklyn Nets for James Harden. That said, Tyrese Maxey also had a career year and blossomed into a star for the Sixers.

Even 76ers head coach Doc Rivers was disappointed that Embiid didn't win the award, telling reporters before Tuesday's Game 5 that he's unsure what more the 2014 third overall pick could have done"

"I don't know if a guy could've done more than he did this year, play without the second-best player [Ben Simmons] all year. Listen, his resume was great. I'm not taking anything away from Jokic either, because he's a hell of a player.

"I do think this whole analytic-driven society, world is out of control at times with some of the measures that they use. Like, watch the dang game and decide is what I've always said."

Jokic was still deserving of the honor, especially considering he led a severely depleted Nuggets team, which was without Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. for much of the season, to the playoffs.

The 27-year-old also improved upon his numbers from the 2020-21 season, when he won his first MVP award. He averaged a career-high 27.1 points and 13.8 rebounds, in addition to 7.9 assists and 1.5 steals, in 74 regular-season games.

In addition, Jokic shot 58.3 percent from the floor and 33.7 percent from deep and became the first player in NBA history to record 2,000 points (2,004), 1,000 rebounds (1,019), and 500 assists (584) in a single season.

Considering Embiid is just 28 years old, he still has plenty of time to add an MVP trophy to his numerous accolades. Who knows, maybe it will come as early as next season.

AP Photo/Jeff Chiu

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic has reportedly won the NBA MVP award for the second straight season.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the league is expected to make a formal announcement this week.

With that, Jokic would become the 13th player in NBA history to win MVP awards in back-to-back seasons.

Jokic led the league in player efficiency rating (32.8), win shares (15.2), box plus/minus (13.7) and value over replacement player (9.8), per Basketball Reference. On the season, Jokic averaged 27.1 points on 58.3 percent shooting, 13.8 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game.

Denver played the entire season without point guard Jamal Murray, who was averaging 21.2 points per game last year before suffering a torn ACL in April 2021. He has not played since. Michael Porter Jr. (19.0 PPG in 2020-21) only played nine games this year after having lumbar spine surgery.

Despite losing their second- and third-leading scorers from last season, Denver posted a 48-34 record and finished sixth in the Western Conference, good enough to qualify for the playoffs outright for the fourth straight year.

That's in large part because of Jokic, whose sensational seventh NBA season guided Denver back to the playoffs. Despite missing Murray and Porter, Denver still finished sixth in offensive rating, per Basketball Reference.

Jokic was one of three NBA MVP award finalists alongside Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid.

Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer says that Ravens already offered more than Kyler Murray’s deal, but are hesitant to go the fully guaranteed route.

The NBA has yet to make it official, but Nikola Jokic is reportedly the 2021-22 Kia NBA MVP. With that, the Denver Nuggets superstar is poised to win the Maurice Podoloff Trophy for the second straight year. That also makes him just the 13th player in NBA history to win back-to-back MVP awards.

Jokic edged Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who both joined the Serbian as the three finalists for the said trophy. There was a good contingent of fans and voters who believe Embiid should nab his first MVP award for his dominant season, leading the entire NBA in scoring. Meanwhile, some believe Antetokounmpo deserves his third MVP in four years for once again putting up insane numbers on both ends of the floor.

The two other finalists definitely had their respective cases. Nonetheless, it seems like Jokic won the hearts of the voters once again. Here are three reasons why Nikola Jokic is the deserving winner of the 2021-22 NBA MVP over Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

3 reasons Nikola Jokic deserved MVP award

1. He had better overall numbers

Jokic’s numbers this season were slightly better than their 2020-21 counterparts. His scoring went slightly up from 26.4 points to 27.1 points, while his rebounding rose by to 13.8 boards from 10.8. The Serbian’s efficiency from the field improved as his field goal shooting went up from 56.6 percent to 58.3 percent. While his 3-point shooting dropped to 33.7 percent, he shot a career-best 65.2 percent from inside the arc.

While Embiid and Antetokounmpo finished as the top two scorers of the league this season, Jokic still had better numbers across the board. He had the edge in rebounding and assists and was more effective from the field with a true shooting percentage of 66.1 percent (as opposed to Embiid’s 61.6 percent and Antetokounmpo’s 63.3 percent). What makes this more insane is that Jokic is doing this with everything in the Denver offense going through him. On the season, he had a high usage rate of 31.9.

Jokic also made NBA history, becoming the first player to ever notch at least 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, and 500 assists in a single season.

2. He led Denver to near-identical records as the Sixers and Bucks with less help

Preseason projections didn’t really have the Nuggets making an outright playoff berth, considering Jamal Murray was already projected to miss the entire year because of a torn ACL. Nine games into the campaign, Michael Porter Jr. went down with a back injury, essentially leaving Jokic without his two co-stars.

Despite this, the soon-to-be two-time MVP still led Denver to a 48-34 record in the regular season and the no. 6 seed in the loaded Western Conference. That’s just three games behind the Sixers and the Bucks, which both finished with identical 51-31 records on the season. Nearly all teams dealt with COVID and injuries throughout the season, but the Nuggets didn’t have two of their three max stars, which makes Jokic’s accomplishment of leading them to the 6th seed more impressive.

3. His value to Denver is much greater

While the same can be said for Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo in terms of their impact for their respective squads, Nikola Jokic’s value to Denver is just much greater.

Without Jokic, the Nuggets would become bottom dwellers in the NBA. They went 2-6 without the reigning MVP this season. His on-off numbers suggest this as well. Per Cleaning The Glass, the Nuggets had an efficiency differential of +9.0 with Jokic on the floor. That is 19.5 points per 100 possession better than when he is on the bench.

The Sixers are 6-8 without Embiid. They are +7.9 with Embiid on the court, which is 11.3 points per 100 possessions better than when he is off the floor. Milwaukee, on the one hand, is 6-9 without The Greek Freak. The defending champs were +8.1 points with Antetokounmpo on the floor, which is 10.8 points per 100 possessions better when he is resting on the sidelines.

Philly is a 60-win team with Embiid on the floor, but drop 27 wins when he sits on the sidelines. The Bucks also become a 60-win team whenever the Greek Freak is wrecking havoc on the court. However, they drop to a 34-win squad with Giannis resting on the bench.

Denver plays like a 62-win team whenever Jokic is on the floor, and drops to an 18-win squad when he sits. That’s an insane 44-win drop when the Nuggets superstar is on the bench. It doesn’t take rocket science easy to see just how much more Jokic means to the Nuggets. That’s why he deserves to win MVP for the second straight season.