Nikola Jokic is on top of the basketball world for the third time in four seasons as he was named the NBA MVP on Wednesday ahead of the Denver Nuggets’ playoff game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Jokic won the award over Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dallas Mavericks forward Luka Doncic. It’s just the seventh time a player has won three in four seasons.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
The All-Star center averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds and nine assists per game. However, he didn’t lead the NBA in either category during the regular season. Though, he’s never led the league in any of the key stat categories despite now winning the MVP three times.
He received 79 of a possible 99 first-place votes to win.
Gilgeous-Alexander helped the Thunder to a No. 1 seed over Jokic’s Nuggets – who are the defending NBA champions. Oklahoma City finished 10th in the Western Conference last season.
He averaged 30.1 points, 6.2 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game. It was the second straight season he averaged at least 30 points per game.
Doncic helped the Mavericks to a 50-game season. The five-time All-Star led the NBA in scoring, averaging 33.9 points per game. He also had 9.8 assists and 9.2 rebounds per game.
Jokic was the ninth player to win the MVP at least three times. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was a six-time winner. Bill Russell and Michael Jordan won it five times. Wilt Chamberlain and LeBron James won the award four times.
Other three-time winners include Moses Malone, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
