Jokić, the reluctant MVP, ends narrative he hadn’t done enough in playoffs

DENVER — Nikola Jokić, you just won the Finals MVP, how many congratulatory texts did you get?

“Oh, mama, fu…” and the word trailed off as Jokić rolled his eyes after looking at his phone. “A lot. A lot. I’m going to turn off the phone.”

Jokić earned all those congratulatory texts — the one from fellow Serbian Novak Djokovic is certainly in there — with a dominant NBA Finals performance averaging 30.2 points, 14 rebounds, 7.2 assists while shooting 58% overall and 42% from 3. Jokić was the best player on the NBA champion Nuggets. He also played quality defense in the paint all series, using his size and length to deter Heat drives, or forcing players to double-clutch before shots.

It earned him the Finals MVP award on a unanimous vote, the first center to win the award since Tim Duncan in 2005 (Duncan would be quickly try and correct us to say he played forward, in which case it was Shaq in 2002).

Nikola Jokic is presented with the Bill Russell Trophy as the 2022-23 #NBAFinals MVP