Nikola Jokic Joins Legendary List As Back-To-Back MVP

In a tight big-man battle, Nikola Jokic has edged out Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo to win the NBA MVP Award, for the second straight season. His back-to-back MVPs put him on a very exclusive list in NBA history. 

Nikola Jokic has been voted MVP, per @wojespn

Back-to-back for the Joker puts him in legendary company 🏆 pic.twitter.com/cQRkPr5ph7

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 9, 2022

Back-to-back NBA MVPs:

Russell 1961-1963
Chamberlain 1966-1968
Abdul-Jabbar 1971-1972, 1976-1977
Malone 1982-1983
Bird 1984-1986
Johnson 1989-1990
Jordan 1991-1992
Duncan 2002-2003
Nash 2005-2006
James 2009-2010, 2012-2013
Curry 2015-2016
Antetokounmpo 2019-2020
Jokic 2021-2022 https://t.co/ZtYcsgOff2

— Justin Kubatko (@jkubatko) May 9, 2022

The Joker becomes only the 13th player to win back-to-back MVPs, and, ironically, makes it a 'back-to-back' back-to-back, as Giannis won it in 2019 and 2020. 

Jokic's numbers this season even surpassed his dominance last year, as he became the first player in NBA history with 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 500 assists in a season. He averaged 27.1 points and 13.8 rebounds per game (both career-highs), along with 7.9 assists.

Jokic literally did it all for the Denver Nuggets, as he was without Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. for virtually the entire season, and still led the team to a 48-34 record. 

And then there's this incredible stat: The Nuggets were +444 with him on the floor, -255 with him on the bench. 

Now THAT is the definition of a "most valuable player."