Nikola Jokic
put up figures in the NBA that had never been seen before.

A source
with knowledge of the decision told the Associated Press on Monday that the
Denver Nuggets big man won his second consecutive Most Valuable Player (MVP) title
after a spectacular season. 

Also read: Mavericks, 76ers win again at home in Game 4s to tie series

The 7-foot
centre became the league’s first player to amass more than 2,000 points, 1,000
rebounds, and 500 assists in a single season. That kind of dominance helped
persuade voters that the Serbian great should become the 13th member of the
NBA’s elite MVP back-to-back club.

Other
finalists who finished second and third were Philadelphia 76ers centre Joel
Embiid, who led the league in scoring average, and reigning champion Milwaukee
Bucks two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Also read: Kings announce hiring of Mike Brown as new coach

To begin
with, the MVP is a regular-season award. The playoffs have no bearing on MVP
voting. Jokic won because he was terrific this season. He was the reason
the Nuggets had any success and made the playoffs in the first place.

On a team
that was without two key players, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr, for
practically the entire season due to injuries, the 27-year-old Jokic averaged
27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds, and 7.9 assists. The big man from Sombor, Serbia,
answered the call to bear the weight night in and night out and led the Nuggets
to a 48-win season. They won the No. 6 seed in the West before falling to the
Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs in five games. Aaron
Gordon, the team’s second-leading scorer, averaged only 15 points per game.
That was the league’s lowest average for a team’s second-leading scorer.

Jokic, who
is known for his precise passing as well as his gentle touch, concluded with a
league-high 19 triple-doubles. The 41st overall selection in the 2014 draught
currently has 76 career goals, trailing only Chamberlain (78) among centres. Embiid’s
Sixers had a better record (51-31) and finished fourth in the East, but
Embiid’s overall numbers weren’t as good as Jokic’s, the Sixers were mainly
healthy all year, and Philadelphia featured scorers like James Harden (21.0
ppg), Tyrese Maxey (17.5 ppg), and Tobias Harris (17.2 ppg).