DENVER (AP) – Nikola Jokic was the 41st pick in the draft when he came to the NBA seven years ago. Today, by overwhelming consensus, it is number 1.
The Nuggets center was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player of the 2020-2021 season, making him the lowest draft pick to win the award. “The Joker” will now be recognized alongside the greatest players in league history, which seemed unlikely when in 2014 he became a surprise prospect from Sombor, Serbia.
“To be honest I didn’t even think I could be in the NBA,” Jokic acknowledged. “My goal when I started playing basketball in my country was to play in the Euroleague, because it was the closest major league to my country.”
He accomplished a little more.
Jokic was an overwhelming champion. It received 91 of the 101 first-place votes – 100 of those were from a global panel of journalists and hosts covering the league, the other vote being a compilation of fan votes.
The fan vote was the exception: it was taken by Derrick Rose of the New York Knicks and who won the award in 2011, the only one Rose received.
Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid was second, followed by Golden State’s Stephen Curry. Giannis Antetokounmpo, MVP in 2019 and 2020 was fourth and Chris Paul of Phoenix fifth.
The previous record for the shortest selection to win the MVP had been Steve Nash and Antetokounmpo who were the 15th selections of their respective Drafts.
Now Greece cedes the bragging rights to Serbia – the fifth country outside the United States to win the MVP, joining Canada (Nash), Greece (Antetokounmpo), Nigeria (Hakeem Olajuwon) and Germany (Dirk Nowitzki).
The news was released during a team meeting Tuesday and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver appeared in a video to break the news.
“The first of many,” said Nuggets coach Michael Malone.
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