Nikola Jokic’s greatest statistical season will not be decorated with the commensurate laurels.
Despite stamping himself as the third player and first center in NBA history to average a triple-double in a season, Jokic fell short of a fourth career MVP trophy, the league announced Wednesday. The 30-year-old Nuggets big man was voted runner-up to Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who won the award for the first time.
Jokic was trying to join LeBron James and Bill Russell as the only players to win four MVPs in five years. He averaged 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists per game, becoming the first player in league history to rank top-three in all three major statistical categories. He also finished second in steals per game with 1.8 and sixth in true shooting percentage at 66.3%.
“I will say that I think I’m playing the best basketball of my life,” Jokic said in March, the closest he’s ever come to making a campaign statement for himself. “So if that’s enough, it’s enough. If not, the guy deserves it. He’s really amazing.”
Gilgeous-Alexander ran away with the scoring title, averaging 32.7 points for a 68-win Thunder team that broke the all-time record for point differential in a season. The 6-foot-6 guard pulled it off with impressive efficiency, ranking 17th in true shooting at 63.7%.
Jokic received 29 first-place votes and was second place or higher on all 100 ballots. Gilgeous-Alexander came in first on the other 71 ballots. They were the only players to receive first- or second-place votes. Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo was the other finalist.
The announcement comes after a tight second-round playoff series between the Nuggets and Thunder, which pitted the two MVP frontrunners against each other with their respective seasons on the line. Oklahoma City prevailed in Game 7, led by Gilgeous-Alexander’s 35-point performance in the winner-take-all game. He averaged 29.7 points, 6.4 boards, 6.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game in the series.
Jokic averaged 28.4 points, 13.9 rebounds and 5.9 assists, registering two of his best games of the season and two of his worst.
“Individually, it was a good season. I stayed healthy. I’m really thankful for that,” he said after Denver’s season-ending Game 7 loss. “I mean, I put a lot of effort in it. So I’m kind of — yeah, I’m thankful, but I know what’s my routine and what I need to do. So I trust what I’m doing, and it seems it’s working well for me.”
Jokic is one of nine players to win the award three times. Only James, Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Jordan — the trophy’s namesake — have won four or more.
This is also the first year since 2019-20 that Jokic has come away with neither the regular-season MVP trophy nor the NBA Finals MVP award.
Former Nuggets coach Michael Malone was a steadfast lobbyist for his center, arguing that Jokic’s three previous MVPs and subsequent voter fatigue were playing a role in the narrative throughout this season. He once claimed that if both players’ statistics were anonymously presented, Jokic would be handed the award “10 times out of 10.”
“If you don’t think so,” Malone told reporters, “I think you guys are all full of (crap).”
Not long after Malone was fired with three games left in the regular season, Nuggets interim coach David Adelman put it in simpler terms. “If Nikola doesn’t win MVP, it will be the greatest season of all time to not win MVP,” the 44-year-old said.
The best basketball of his life
Nikola Jokic doesn’t usually dwell on his individual success, but even he acknowledged that the 2024-25 season was the best of his 10-year NBA career. Ironically, it’s the first since 2019-20 that didn’t end in an MVP trophy or championship. Here’s how the numbers stack up next to his more decorated years. (Click here to view chart in mobile.)
Season Points Rebounds Assists P+R+A Steals TS% 3P% 2020-21 (MVP) 26.4 10.8 8.3 45.5 1.3 64.7% 38.8% 2021-22 (MVP) 27.1 13.8 7.9 48.8 1.5 66.1% 33.7% 2022-23* 24.5 11.8 9.8 46.1 1.3 70.1% 38.3% 2023-24 (MVP) 26.4 12.4 9.0 47.8 1.4 65.0% 35.9% 2024-25 29.6 12.7 10.2 52.5 1.8 66.3% 41.7%* Won NBA championship
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