Nikola Jokic came in second place for the third time in six years in the vote for the NBA's MVP award. He won the MVP three times in those other three years, giving him a string of six consecutive top-two finishes. With that finish, Joker joins elite company, becoming just the third player to ever accomplish such a streak.
Jokic joins Larry Bird and Bill Russell, two former Celtics legends, in the elite MVP streak club. Russell had his streak from 1958 until 1963, and Bird's was from 1981 to 1986. Jokic's run started in 2021, when he won the first of his three MVP trophies.
Bird actually finished second three times in a row to start his streak, followed by three straight MVP awards. Jokic will have to settle for three wins in four years.
But of course, ask any Nuggets fan, and they'll likely tell you Joker should have won six in a row. And he's been getting better every year, too.
Jokic had arguably the best season of his career
Nuggets fans will be salty over his MVP loss this year. Jokic was the Dennis Rodman and the John Stockton of the NBA this season, yet he still finished second. Jokic led the league in rebounds and assists, while leading the Nuggets to 54 wins, good for the 5th-best in the NBA.
But he lost out to the NBA's second-leading scorer, the best player on the best team, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Shai had a great year, but Jokic did something no one has ever done. He led the NBA in both rebounds and assists in the same year.
Jokic even looked like the best player in the world during the regular season for most of the way, outside of some missteps in the clutch and issues he had with turnovers. He still finished the season with an incredible 27.7 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 10.7 assists per game.
Russell and Bird each had eight top-three's in a row
Jokic's run is obviously one of the all-time great runs of greatness in NBA history, but he still has a way to go to catch Russell and Bird in the top-three department. They each had eight top-three MVP finishes in a row. But neither had seven consecutive top-two finishes.
Jokic will make his run at being the first to complete seven in a row next year, but it's likely to be an uphill battle. If Jokic had his best season statistically this year and didn't win, what's he going to have to do next year?
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