Nikola Jokic is seen as the frontrunner to win the 2021 NBA Most Valuable Player award after a very good season with the Denver Nuggets, who are 3rd in the Western Conference. The Serbian player has been on a tear all season long and plenty of fans and analysts see him as the favorite to take the award this year.
There was more competition in LeBron James, Joel Embiid and James Harden but Jokic took advantage of these players’ injuries and took the lead of the MVP ladder, becoming the clear favorite to win the coveted prize. However, Jokic has always maintained a low profile and even after seeing all the support he’s receiving for the MVP, he’s not changing.
The 25-year-old recently sat down with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols to talk about several topics, including his chance to win the award. Nikola simply said that he doesn’t like to see himself as the favorite so that he can be the underdog and use that as motivation to win (3:10).
“I mean I never think about it, to be honest, I never even I don’t, I didn’t come here to want to be an MVP of the league, you know. I always think someone is better than me, I want to compete to beat him just by that mentality I’m going to be underdog always.”
Other candidates like Stephen Curry, Embiid and Harden has made the case for themselves, claiming that they deserve the award over anybody else. Well, that hasn’t been the case for Jokic and he’s kept that mentality.
Jokic has done a terrific job with the Nuggets, taking them to the top 3 of the stacked Western Conference. Even with Jamal Murray out of action, the Nuggets are playing just well, winning nine of their last 10 games.
As long as they have Jokic on the court, this team will have a chance to compete against anybody. After a couple of seasons being arguably the best center in the league, Nikola has reached another level and now could be the best player in the association.
