Nikola Jokovic gets NBA MVP 2022 honors.
Nikola Jokovic makes history as he wins the MVP title two years in a row.
With his record breaking year, the Denver Nuggets center became the first player in league history to record more than 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 500 assists in a season. And that sort of dominance helped convince voters that the Serbian star should be the 13th player of the NBA’s exclusive MVP back-to-back club.
He led the NBA with 19 triple-doubles, averaged 27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds, and 7.9 assists per game this season.
The other players to win two in a row include Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, LeBron James (twice), Steve Nash, Tim Duncan, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Moses Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (twice). Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell each won the award in three straight seasons.
The Denver Nuggets finished with a 48-34 record despite playing the entire season without Jamal Murray, and most of it without Michael Porter Jr. Jokic's production was similar in 21-22 as it was in 20-21 when he won his first MVP.
The race between Jokic, Embiid and Antetokounmpo was a fierce one. Embiid won the scoring title by averaging 30.6 points. Antetokounmpo's Milwaukee Bucks finished with the highest seed of the three, finishing third in the Eastern Conference with a 51-31 record. Embiid's 76ers had the same record but finished fourth due to tiebreakers.
Seen as the frontrunner in this year’s race, Embiid garnered serious support from players who have been vocal on social media on rooting for the Sixers’ big man.
Embiid led the NBA in scoring at 30.6 points per game and averaged 11.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists. That included a 41-point, 20-rebound game to wrap the regular season against the Indiana Pacers.
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