Jokic makes history with 5th successive top-2 surface in MVP
There was Costs Russell. There was Larry Bird. And now, there’s Nikola Jokic.By ending up second in this year’s MVP balloting behind only Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic– the Denver Nuggets star– became simply the third player in NBA history with a top-two surface in 5 or more consecutive seasons.Advertisement He won the award in 2021, 2023 and 2024, plus was 2nd in
2022 and again this year.Russell and Bird, a set of Boston Celtics greats, each were first or second in the balloting in
6 successive seasons.Russell won in 1958, 1961, 1962 and 1963, while ending up 2nd in 1959 and 1960. Bird was 2nd in 1981, 1982 and
1983 before winning in 1984, 1985 and 1986. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar(1971-74 )and Tim Duncan( 2001-04)are the other players with 4 straight top-two finishes.
Michael Jordan and LeBron James each had two various streaks of three consecutive top-two finishes in the ballot– but never surpassed that.Advertisement More on Jokic had the sixth circumstances of a player finishing a season balancing a triple-double– at least 10 points, 10 assists and 10
rebounds per game.Only one of those seasons has resulted in an MVP win.Oscar Robertson averaged a triple-double in 1961-62; he didn’t win MVP that year. Russell Westbrook did it 4 times and won the MVP award only once because span. And now, Jokic ended up second after a season statistically like none other.International players sweep No. 1 votes once again For the 4th successive year, no player born in the U.S. got a single first-place vote in the MVP race.Gilgeous-Alexander(Canada) got 71 votes this year, and Jokic(Serbia)got the other 29. Advertisement The last time a U.S.-born player got a first-place vote was 2021, when Stephen Curry got five votes, Chris Paul got 2 and Derrick Rose got one.Last year, Jokic got 79 first-place votes, while Gilgeous-Alexander got 15, Luka Doncic (then of Dallas, now of the Los
Angeles Lakers
)got four and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo– born in Greece and someone likewise of Nigerian descent– got one.In 2023, Cameroon-born Joel Embiid (73), Jokic(15 )and Antetokounmpo(12 )got all the first-place nods, while in 2022 it was Jokic(65 ), Embiid (26)and Antetokounmpo (nine) atop all the ballots.For LeBron, 22 years, 20 discusses Ad LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers made it back onto the tallies this season, marking the 20th time in his 22 years in the NBA that he got at least one MVP vote.He was 6th in this year’s voting.James didn’t get a vote in either of the last 2 seasons. He’s the first player in NBA history to get at least one MVP vote in 20
different seasons.0 for 12 for No. 1 selects The
No. 1 choice drought in
the MVP race continues.It’s now 12 consecutive years because a No. 1 draft pick won the MVP award, returning to LeBron James– then of Miami– in 2013. The MVPs, and their draft slot, ever since:– Kevin Durant, MVP in 2014, No. 2 pick in 2007 Advertisement– Stephen Curry, MVP in 2015 and 2016, No. 7 pick in 2009– Russell Westbrook, MVP in 2017, No. 4 pick in 2008– James Harden, MVP in 2018, No. 3 choice in 2009– Giannis Antetokounmpo, MVP in 2019 and 2020, No. 15 pick in 2013– Nikola Jokic, MVP in 2021, 2022 and 2024, No. 41 choice in 2014– Joel Embiid, MVP in 2023, No. 3 pick in 2014– Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, MVP in 2025, No. 11 pick in 2018 Giannis’
streak ends For the very first time in 7 years, Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo did
not get a first-place MVP vote.That ended the longest active streak. Nikola
Jokic now has that streak, with 5 successive years of at least one first-place vote.Advertisement Antetokounmpo’s run was the
longest in the NBA because LeBron James got a first-place vote in 8 consecutive years from 2008 through 2015. That run ended when Golden State’s Stephen Curry became the first– and still only– consentaneous MVP in 2016
. ___ AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba