BREAKING: Nuggets Makes 6-Word Statement Following Massive Nikola Jokic News
The Denver Nuggets had quite an eventful regular season.
They finished as the No. 4 seed in a loaded Western Conference, just narrowly edging out their first-round opponent, the Los Angeles Clippers, by a tie-breaker.
But the Nuggets made headlines for firing head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth just before the end of the regular season.
While Denver may not have performed as well as in years past, center Nikola Jokić sure did.
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic rebounds the ball against the Kings.
Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images
Nuggets make massive Nikola Jokic statement
Despite his already impressive resume, Jokic managed to surpass expectations yet again.
He scored a career-high 29.6 points per game, 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists.
Voters assigned with selecting the winner of the major NBA awards agreed, as they named Jokic one of three finalists for the Most Valuable Player award.
Jokic joined Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder, the other two finalists.
He was also named as a finalist for the Clutch Player of the Year award.
The Denver Nuggets gave a shout-out to their three-time MVP center following the announcement.
“A clutch MVP, that’s Nikola Jokic,” the post read.
While Jokic just had arguably the best statistical season of his career, he’s not the favorite to take home the hardware.
When the season came to an end, Gilgeous-Alexander was the betting favorite, a heavy one at that.
At -3000 odds, Gilgeous-Alexander’s implied probability is 96.77.
A handful of NBA pundits, such as The Ringer’s Bill Simmons and Ryen Russillo, have expressed their plans to vote for the three-time MVP.
Meanwhile, others, like Yahoo Sports’ Kevin O’Connor, claimed they would vote for Gilgeous-Alexander.
Usually, outperforming every season in which you won MVP in the past would be a shoo-in for the award again. But the Joker is facing long odds and perhaps voter fatigue on his way to capturing a fourth.