Hat-trick of MVP awards for Jokic

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic has been named NBA Most Valuable Player for the third time in four seasons.

The 29-year-old Serbian star, who won the award in 2021 and 2022, finished runner-up in the voting in 2023 but had the satisfaction of leading the Nuggets to a first NBA title.

This season he averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds and 9.0 assists in the regular season and beat out Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks in final voting.

He became the second player, after Oscar Robertson, to record 2,000 points, 900 rebounds and 600 assists in a season.

Jokic joins Moses Malone, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson as three-time winners after earning 79 first-place votes compared to 15 for Gilgeous-Alexander and four for Doncic.