The Colorado Joker from Serbia: will ic triumph in the MVP race?

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There has not been a center winning the NBA’s MVP award since O’Neal did in 2000. Now there are two powerful candidates: Philadelphia 76ers Joel Embiid and Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokić. Some enthusiastic commentators are referring to the 25-year old as “the greatest passing big man ever.” Colorado sports fans who want to enjoy the thrill of playing online can use this bonus code, while Denver Nuggets’ best bonus is the Serbian giant. Jokić is not only a genial passing man. He is an absolute playmaker, propelling the whole team forward.

On Sunday, Feb. 15th Jokić recorded his sixth triple-double of the season and finished with 23 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists, leading the Denver Nuggets to victory against the Los Angeles Lakers 122-105. A week earlier, the Joker had set a new career-high at 50 points against the Sacramento Kings, although the Nuggets lost the game 119-114.

Clearly, the team is not up to the big man, who had 12 assists and eight rebounds and scored 23 points in the fourth quarter. Denver coach Michael Malone said: “More impressive than the 50 points, the 12 assists and the eight rebounds were his approach, his mindset, his leadership. He knew we were undermanned. He understood how important this game was. Nikola goes out and does his job. He doesn’t care. We lost the game; that’s all he’s going to care about.”

And truly, the star from Sombor is all about the team. Watch him play, and you will not doubt his sense for cooperation. His “it’s just a game” attitude has made Malone nervous recently: “I locked him in my office one day and I beat him with a pillowcase full of soda cans and said, ‘You gotta score more.’ You know how he is.” Jokić’s had marked a previous career-high at 47 points against the Utah Jazz just two weeks earlier, and his mates really wanted to see him reach 50. But the big man carelessly commented: “Hopefully, I’m going to score when we need it. It’s just a game. The main thing is just to win the game. I’m going to score however much I need just to win the game.” Will Barton revealed to ESPN that “I told him a couple of minutes before to go get 50. But you know him; he doesn’t care about that kind of stuff. He’s just playing basketball, being aggressive, being who he is.”

In the end, Jokić was right. He got his 50 points when the time came, but the team lost. Meanwhile, he still has the third most votes of anyone in the Western Conference of the NBA All-Star. He remains the second place in frontcourt voting trailing only LeBron James.

What about the MVP race?

A test was run recently by ESPN, which asked 100 media members to participate in an informal poll. The balloting included at least two voters from each of the league’s 28 markets and a cross-section of national and international reporters. Le Bron James came first with 760 points, leading Joel Embiid by just 95 points. Nikola Jokic was third, with a total of 596 points.