Recently crowned the NBA’s Most Valuable Player, Nikola Jokic started out his journey in the premier basketball league back in 2014, as the 41st overall pick in the draft by Denver Nuggets.

His first season in 2015 turned some eyeballs as the 6ft 11in (2.10m) Serbian centre finished third in the NBA Rookie of the year voting in 2016. But that was only a hint of things to come. 

Although in 2016, for a brief period his appearances were limited to the bench, he soon turned it around with a string of match-winning performances. Early in 2017, in a spell of 13 games, Jokic racked up four triple-doubles and a second straight triple-double.

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However, his breakout season came in 2018-19, when he received his first All-Star selection as a Western Conference reserve for the 2019 NBA All-Star Game and followed it up with an appearance in the All NBA-First team in the next season. 

Since then, Jokic has been relentlessly performing for the Denver side and sealed a Western Conference final appearance in 2020, which they eventually lost to Los Angeles Lakers.

Ahead of his selection as the MVP this year, Jokic was already considered as the frontrunner by some for the league’s highest individual honour as he enjoyed one of the best offensive seasons in NBA history, averaging 26.4 points, 10.8 rebounds and 8.3 assists. Jokic is also shooting 38% from the three-point range and 86% from the foul line.  

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Backing his selection, Jokic has bagged formidable numbers during the season as he shot 56.6% from the field, 38.8% from 3-point range and 86.8% from the foul line. He also led Denver into the second round of the playoffs despite injuries to three of Denver’s guards — Jamal Murray, Will Barton and PJ Dozier — a feat that none of the other teams was able to match.