Nikola Jokic officially named MVP

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić has been named the 2021-22 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player, the NBA announced today. This is the second Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award for Jokić, who also earned the honor last season. He becomes the 13th player to win the award in consecutive seasons, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, Stephen Curry, Tim Duncan, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Moses Malone, Steve Nash and Bill Russell.
Source: NBA.com

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Michael Singer @msinger
Good news: The crystal ball Nikola Jokic received was a nod to the NBA’s 75th anniversary. He’ll also be getting the traditional MVP trophy later.
Bad news: That’s more trophies to keep track of. – 8:18 PM Chris Dempsey @chrisadempsey
So I think what this is showing pretty clearly is that, yes, despite general nonchalance toward winning the #NBA MVP, it in fact meant a lot to Nikola Jokic. There is so much more emotion from him in this video than we ever see.
And it is so cool.
pic.twitter.com/LuGC8kqP85 – 8:17 PM Kurt Helin @basketballtalk
Nikola Jokic tops Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo in closest three-way MVP race in decades nba.nbcsports.com/2022/05/11/nik… – 7:30 PM Duane Rankin @DuaneRankin
OFFICIAL: Nikola Jokic back-to-back MVP. – 7:09 PM TJ McBride @TJMcBrideNBA
I’ll feel forever blessed to watch Jokic as much as I have. What a one-of-a-kind talent. His game is just pure basketball joy. – 7:07 PM Harrison Wind @HarrisonWind
Power ranking the top moments from Nikola Jokic’s MVP trophy presentation:
1. Dream Catcher’s stable as the backdrop
2. Josh Kroenke’s shirt
3. Jokic rolling up in the sulky
4. The kiss pic.twitter.com/I8oVdJMBDh – 7:04 PM TJ McBride @TJMcBrideNBA
Three players received first place MVP votes.
Nikola Jokic: 66
Joel Embiid: 26
Giannis Antetokounmpo: 9
Jokic was the runaway winner. pic.twitter.com/sv9hAsN5CW – 6:58 PM Kevin O’Connor @KevinOConnorNBA
With Nikola Jokic officially winning his second MVP, here’s his scouting report from my 2014 draft guide. I ranked him 27th and said he’d be a steal but who could’ve seen this coming? Not even the Nuggets. From the 41st pick to back-to-back MVP. Unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/1wakJCUWlz – 6:58 PM Gordon Gross @GMoneyNuggs
There were 2 second-place votes for anyone not named Jokic, Embiid or Giannis. Voters agreed – everyone agrees – those were the 3 guys.
MVP shares past 4 years:
Jokic – 1, 1, 9, 4
Embiid – 2, 2, 7, 12
Giannis – 3, 4, 1, 1
Still looking for the disrespect. – 6:58 PM Christos Tsaltas @Tsaltas46
Another 5-star season had a reward for Nikola Jokic. Joker is the back-to-back NBA MVP, proving his dominant force on the floor. He put the Nuggets on his back many times this season and forced them until the 6th-seed in the West. #MileHighBasketball #NBA
sdna.gr/mpasket/964786… – 6:56 PM Michael Grange @michaelgrange
ICYMI — Nikola Jokic was the worthy MVP in a race that Embiid and Giannis also deserved to win. And if you don’t like it? Blame Mike Budenholzer for refusing to play Giannis more than 33 minutes a game: sportsnet.ca/nba/article/ye… – 6:54 PM Adam Wexler @AdamJWexler
65 of 100 voters voted Nikola Jokic as the #NBA MVP and he easily outpoints Joel Embiid who got 25 first place votes and Giannis Antetokounmpo who received the other 9 votes. The vote totals: pic.twitter.com/TZEFe9CN4t – 6:53 PM Howard Beck @HowardBeck
For all the talk of “voter fatigue,” we’ve now had SEVEN instances of a player winning back-to-back MVP in the last 21 years:
Jokic (2021, 2022), Giannis (2019, 2020), Curry (2015, 2106), LeBron (2012, 2013), LeBron (2009, 2010), Nash (2005, 2006) and Duncan (2002, 2003). – 6:51 PM TJ McBride @TJMcBrideNBA
I’m still dying at Jokic being told that he is the 5th center to win back to back MVPs and his response was, “does Shaq not have two?”
Elite troll job. – 6:50 PM StatMuse @statmuse
Stat leaders among the top 5 MVP finalists:
PPG — Embiid
RPG — Jokic
APG — Luka
SPG — Jokic
BPG — Embiid
FG% — Jokic
+/- — Booker pic.twitter.com/2Ob9rCrdSE – 6:47 PM Tim Bontemps @TimBontemps
NBA MVP voting results:
Jokic: 65 1st place votes, 875 pts
Embiid: 26 1st place votes, 706 pts
Giannis: 9 1st place votes, 595 pts
Final ESPN MVP straw poll results:
Jokic: 62 1st place votes, 860 pts
Embiid: 29 1st place votes, 719 pts
Giannis: 9 1st place votes, 593 pts pic.twitter.com/MhP7nmjlvS – 6:46 PM Eurohoops @Eurohoopsnet
OFFICIAL: Nikola Jokic voted #NBA #MVP for the second straight season
eurohoops.net/en/nba-news/13… – 6:46 PM Adam Mares @Adam_Mares
Jokic is the best. That was great. – 6:45 PM Rob Peterson @ShotDrJr
And Jokic’s place in the Naismith Hall of Fame is secured. – 6:44 PM Callie Caplan @CallieCaplan
Luka Doncic: Year 4, No. 5 in MVP voting behind Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Devin Booker.
Luka and Booker both got 1 second-place vote but Booker got 8 third-place votes to Luka’s 0. pic.twitter.com/rtNccIdPzF – 6:44 PM Michael Singer @msinger
Nikola Jokic earned 65 first-place votes (875 points overall) Joel Embiid had 26 first-place (706 points overall). Giannis Antetokounmpo had 9 first-place votes (595 points overall). – 6:43 PM TJ McBride @TJMcBrideNBA
This Jokic MVP interview in front of his horse stable is elite, legendary, mesmerizing, and any other adjective you want to throw out there. What a joy. – 6:42 PM John Schuhmann @johnschuhmann
Jokic is awesome.
Let us cherish him. – 6:41 PM Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
Jayson Tatum finished 6th in the MVP voting, we’ll see if that’s a harbinger for the All-NBA 1st team.
The Jokic win wasn’t as close as a lot of people thought it would be. pic.twitter.com/pWookfa9xT – 6:40 PM Gordon Gross @GMoneyNuggs
Laughing my ass off at Jokic doing exactly what all of us thought he was doing: harness racing his horses, doing this acceptance interview with the stable dog hacking up a hairball nearby. – 6:40 PM Mike Vorkunov @MikeVorkunov
Nikola Jokic, MVP. He took 65 of 100 1st place votes. It’s the first time the top 3 are all international players. pic.twitter.com/XKhCXztZfu – 6:39 PM Michael Scotto @MikeAScotto
Nikola Jokic is the NBA MVP. He’s the 13th player to be MVP in consecutive seasons, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, Stephen Curry, Tim Duncan, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Moses Malone, Steve Nash and Bill Russell. pic.twitter.com/JVDpcqGYFw – 6:38 PM Steve Aschburner @AschNBA
Here are the balloting results for the 2021-22 NBA Most Valuable Player Award won by Denver’s Nikola Jokic, again. pic.twitter.com/raNFMSI05D – 6:38 PM Michael Singer @msinger
Nikola Jokic on the MVPs via @NBAonTNT: “When I’m old, fat and grumpy, hopefully I’m gonna remember (the awards).” – 6:37 PM Christos Tsaltas @Tsaltas46
It’s official. Nikola Jokic is the 2022 NBA MVP of the season. Joker won the trophy for second straight season! #MileHighBasketball #Jokic #NBA75 pic.twitter.com/nrILYRicPW – 6:36 PM Michael Singer @msinger
That’s Michael Malone, Ogi Stojakovic, Josh Kroenke and others from the #Nuggets contingent at the horse stable to celebrate Nikola Jokic’s B2B MVP. – 6:36 PM Cody Taylor @CodyTaylorNBA
The NBA has officially announced Nikola Jokic as the Most Valuable Player. The full voting results: pic.twitter.com/ejc23Z9rjj – 6:35 PM JD Shaw @JShawNBA
Full voting results for the MVP award. Behind Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid finishes second, Giannis Antetokounmpo third: pic.twitter.com/MOSvbrLXVD – 6:35 PM Katy Winge @katywinge
A Sombor Surprise 🥺
Josh Kroenke, Tim Connelly, Coach Malone, Felipe (head strength and conditioning coach), Oggy (director of player development), all made the trip to Sombor to deliver Nikola Jokic his MVP award.
You could see it in the video, Joker was emotional. – 6:35 PM Ohm Youngmisuk @NotoriousOHM
Nikola Jokic receiving his second MVP trophy at a Serbian horse stable is just perfectly Joker. – 6:35 PM Howard Beck @HowardBeck
As expected, Nikola Jokic has won MVP for the 2021-22 season. pic.twitter.com/k6QToIs1Dd – 6:35 PM Michael Singer @msinger
It’s official: Nikola Jokic is your back-to-back MVP.
denverpost.com/2022/05/11/nik… – 6:33 PM Brian Mahoney @briancmahoney
NBA MVP to be announced today on TNT’s pregame show at 6:30 p.m. EDT. Will feature an interview with Nikola Jokic. – 5:07 PM Salman Ali @SalmanAliNBA
It’s not “virtuous” to not want the MVP award. Most of the time it’s disingenuous. Everybody wants it.
Steph wanted it, Giannis wanted it, Jokic wanted it. These players have nothing to gain by saying that they want it because it’ll inevitably be labeled “selfish”. – 12:27 PM Keith Pompey @PompeyOnSixers
‘I’m not mad’: Joel Embiid shrugs off losing MVP to Nikola Jokic and vows to focus on winning a championship with Sixers inquirer.com/sports/sixers-… via @phillyinquirer – 8:38 AM Justin Grasso @JGrasso_
Joel Embiid congratulates Nikola Jokic for winning MVP. Says there is “no right or wrong” for the winner. He mentioned that he figured he wasn’t going to win weeks ago #Sixers – 10:50 PM Tim Bontemps @TimBontemps
Joel Embiid congratulates Nikola Jokic on winning MVP, says there was no wrong answer and that he, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Devin Booker all had deserving cases to win. – 10:50 PM Dave Early @DavidEarly
TNT really pushing this narrative that Embiid may be just moping and sulky from Jokic winning MVP. No sources cited but some consistent spec. pic.twitter.com/293U5w8dee – 9:20 PM Duvalier Johnson @DuvalierJohnson
Imagine the timeline if Nikola Jokic ever played this poorly in a playoff game. – 8:48 PM

More on this storyline

Ohm Youngmisuk: Asked if he considers himself a long shot who won MVP, Jokic agreed while sitting in front of a horse and stable in the middle of the night: “If it’s not me, who is it. I’m coming from this city (Sombor)… from this stable basically.” -via Twitter @NotoriousOHM / May 11, 2022 Trae Young: Jokic game is so tough. Funny dude too😂 Deserved! 💯 -via Twitter @TheTraeYoung / May 11, 2022 Jorge Sierra: LeBron James has received MVP votes in 19 different seasons. That’s two more than Kareem and six more than MJ. Just an FYI. -via Twitter @hoopshype / May 11, 2022