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Nikola Jokic has won the 2023 Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP award after his Denver Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat to win the franchise’s first championship. Jokic averaged 30.2 points, 14 rebounds and 7.2 assists for the Nuggets as they won the series in five games. Jokic, who was heavily favored to win the award before the series even started, was unanimously chosen by the voter panel for this award.
Jokic’s accolade is historic on a number of levels. He is just the fifth international-born player to win the Finals MVP award, joining Hakeem Olajuwon, Tony Parker, Dirk Nowitzki and Giannis Antetokounmpo in the highly exclusive club (although a sixth player, Tim Duncan, was born outside the mainland of the United States in the Virgin Islands).
In winning this award, Jokic becomes the sixth other player to be named Finals MVP in the past six seasons. This is the first stretch of six seasons with six different Finals MVP award winners since the 2004-2009 seasons. Parity is a rarity at this price point as the best players often win multiple championships in a short period of time, but at the moment a different star seems to be making its way to the top of the league each season. The longest streak of non-repeating Finals MVPs the NBA has ever had came between 1974-81, an eight-year span.
While other big men such as Antetokounmpo, Nowitzki and Duncan have won the Finals MVP award, all three played primarily power forward. That makes Jokic the first true center to win the award since Shaquille O’Neal in 2002. After Game 1 of the Finals, Jokic revealed that O’Neal was one of the players he modeled his game after he grew up.
Of course, Jokic is a stylistically unique player in the annals of NBA history. No great man has ever combined such incredible passing and post scoring. He’s one of the greatest offensive players in NBA history, and he’s just getting started. This was his first Finals MVP award, but it probably won’t be his last.
Nuggets NBA Championship Gear Released
The Nuggets have won their first ever NBA title. You can now buy Nuggets Championship shirts, hats, jerseys, hoodies and more to celebrate the historic victory. Buy Nuggets NBA Championship Gear here now.
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