Nikola Jokic has won two NBA MVP awards in a row. Heading into this season there was a narrative that voters would not vote for him for a third time in a row no matter how good he was during the year. There was also rumored to be some regression in his stats with the retrurn of Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. from injury. There has indeed been some regression in his scoring (24 ppg down from 27) but his assists numbers have risen from 7.9 per game to 10.0.
With arguably better statistical numbers overall this season, and the Nuggets holding the best record in the Western Conference, and potentially the league at the end of the season, it seems he will win his third in a row. The betting odds think so as well. Jokic is now an astonishing -450 to win the MVP Award. That means that bettors would need to bet $450 on Jokic to win it just to get $100 in return.
Larry Bird was the last player to win three MVPs in a row and he is one of just three players ever to do so. The other two are Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell.
With Nikola Jokic averaging a triple double and having the best record in the West, it is hard to not have him winning his third NBA MVP in a row.
Photo Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nikola_Jokic_free_throw.jpg
