Nikola Jokic had an excellent season last year. The Serbian big man was phenomenal for the Denver Nuggets last season and helped the franchise secure the third overall seed in the Western Conference. For his performances last year, Jokic was named the NBA MVP.
It was an incredible accomplishment for a player that has been playing at the highest level over the last few years. Jokic was a second-round pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. And by winning the MVP, Jokic made history, becoming only the second MVP not to be drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft behind Willis Reed.
But despite winning the MVP, Jokic isn’t being looked at as one of the marquee names in the league. Yesterday, the NBA announced their slate of Christmas day games for the 2021-22 NBA season. These games usually feature the biggest names and the biggest teams taking on each other.
Nikola Jokic is the first reigning MVP to not get a Christmas Day game since the NBA went to 5 games on Christmas in 2008. pic.twitter.com/C05FQVkZax
— StatMuse (@statmuse) August 17, 2021
Surprisingly enough, Jokic and the Nuggets were not put on the docket for a Christmas day game, despite having one last season. Jokic now becomes the first-ever reigning MVP to not have a Christmas day game since the NBA began having 5 marquee match-ups on Christmas.
Jokic was absolutely spectacular last season and completely deserved to win the MVP award. But some critics have argued that Jokic only won MVP because contenders like LeBron James, James Harden, and Joel Embiid got hurt during the course of the season, and Jokic didn’t.
Jokic and the Nuggets have consistently been one of the best teams in the Western Conference over the last few seasons. So it comes as a shock that they didn’t get picked for a Christmas day game.
Last year, they faced the LA Clippers on Christmas in a rematch of their 2020 second-round Playoff fixture, in which the Nuggets came back from 3-1 down to eliminate the Clippers. Given that the Nuggets got swept in the second round this year, that could be a reason as to why the Nuggets didn’t get a Christmas day game.
