23 May 2023 , 13:41
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Nikola Jokic has admitted that Joel Embiid was a worthy winner of the NBA MVP award, despite many believing he should've won the top prize again.
The Denver Nuggets superstar could have been just the fourth player in NBA history to have won the award in three consecutive years, behind Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell. However he was edged out by Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid - who also had a tremendous year.
While Jokic could have made an extremely strong case to have won the award with no-one blaming him for doing so, the Serbian has taking the opposite approach - and pointed out people have been "mean" by claiming Embiid was undeserving.
After his dominant Game Four performance to sweep the Los Angeles Lakers, Jokic was asked on whether he should have won the regular season award.
He responded by saying: "I don't know because I don't think about MVP's anymore. I think people are just mean in saying that Embiid shouldn't have won it. I think he should have won it.
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"He was playing extremely tough basketball through the whole season - he was really amazing in the games he played."
Despite Embiid winning the regular season award, Jokic, along with Miami Heat's Jimmy Butler will be in line for the post-season award, with both their teams likely battle for the NBA Championship.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Should Nikola Jokic have been crowned the NBA MVP? Join the discussion in the comments section.
Jokic has admitted that Joel Embiid rightfully won the award ahead of himJokic's Nuggets were too much for LeBron James and the Lakers, with 'The Joker' looking like the best player in the court in the majority of the series, outshining James and Anthony Davis to dominate the team - leading the Nuggets to their first ever NBA Finals.
In game four, Jokic dropped an incredible scoreline, with a triple double consisting of 30 points, 13 assists and 14 rebounds - being praised by James who quite literally took his hat off to him in his post-game interview.
Conversely, the Heat came into their series against the Boston Celtics as huge underdogs, but find themselves 3-0 up after bullying the C's throughout the series, with Butler getting the better of fellow superstars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.