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Nikola Jokic The First Player Ever to Lead The Playoffs in Points, Assists and Rebounds

Congratulations are in order after Nuggets star Nikola Jokic was named the NBA Finals MVP. Do you all think he deserves it? ESPN got the rundown;

Nikola Jokic didn’t win his third straight Most Valuable Player Award this season, but he still ended up with an MVP trophy after all.

In addition to getting the championship he has coveted, Jokic was named NBA Finals MVP after the Denver Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat 94-89 in Game 5 at Ball Arena.

Jokic closed out Miami with 28 points, 16 rebounds and 4 assists to help the Nuggets win the franchise’s first NBA title. Like every opponent the Nuggets faced this postseason, the Heat had very few answers for Jokic.

When asked how it feels to be an NBA champion, Jokic told ESPN’s Lisa Salters on the court: “It’s good. It’s good. The job is done, and we can go home now.”

Jokic is the lowest-drafted player (41st overall in the second round in 2014) to win the Finals MVP, passing Dennis Johnson, who was drafted 29th overall in 1979, according to ESPN Stats & Information. He also becomes only the third second-round pick to win Finals MVP, joining Willis Reed and Johnson (Moses Malone won the 1983 Finals MVP with the Philadelphia 76ers but wasn’t drafted by an NBA team because he started his career in the ABA with the Utah Stars).

“I think it’s a great journey,” Jokic said about going from a second-round pick to Finals MVP. “Like you said, 41st pick, but that doesn’t matter. When you’re here, you’re a [NBA] player.”

 This season, Jokic seemed to tire of the conjecture surrounding the MVP race between himself, Embiid and Antetokounmpo. After winning the previous two MVPs back-to-back, Jokic received criticism from those who said he wasn’t the best player in the NBA.

It became louder as detractors pointed toward accusations of stat-padding while Jokic collected 29 triple-doubles in the regular season. Some suggested Jokic is this generation’s Steve Nash, a generational team-first passer who had gaudy statistics but wasn’t the best player of his era nor able to win a championship

Jokic often shut down MVP questions by saying he didn’t care about winning the award and only wanted to lead his team to a championship. But after Jokic collected his 100th career triple-double at the Houston Rockets on Feb. 28, the center admitted he had heard some of the criticism about why he didn’t deserve to win MVP again.

“When you’re stat-padding it’s easy, you know,” Jokic said when asked about the triple-double milestone.

When asked if he had heard that he was being called a stat-padder, Jokic cracked, “Yes, of course. It’s true.”

Race even was brought up by some as an excuse as to why Embiid wasn’t selected as MVP prior to winning it for the first time this season. (Jokic finished second in this year’s voting.)

Nuggets head coach Michael Malone couldn’t stand idly by and not defend Jokic.

Jokic is the first player in NBA history to lead the playoffs in points, assists and rebounds.

Flip to the next page for reactions from fans on Nikola Jokic bagging the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award…

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