06/08/2021 10:35 PM
Clarín.com
sports
Basketball
Updated 06/08/2021 10:35 PM
Serbian Nikola Jokic, the star teammate of Argentine Facundo Campazzo in the Denver Nuggets, was named MVP, the
most valuable player
of the 2020-2021 NBA season.
The consecrating forcefulness of the numbers of one of the
most versatile pivots in the league
made him a sung option for this Tuesday's election.
Dokic averaged
26.4 points per game
- the best statistical record of his career - with
8.3 assists and 10.8 rebounds
.
Two passes away from
averaging a triple-double
per game, the incidence of Campazzo's favorite receiver in the game explains the advance of the Nuggets, who are already playing in the Western Conference semifinal series against the Phoenix Suns.
At 2.10m tall and with an astonishing ability to build a game from center position, Dokic was chosen over strong options such as multi-award winning guard Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors and the rising figure of Cameroonian Joel Embiid of the Los Angeles. Philadelphia 76ers.
Jokic is
the fourth international player to win
the award after Canadian Steve Nash (2005, 2006), German
Dirk Nowitzki
(2007) and Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo (2019, 2020), not counting the awards from Hakeem Olajuwon (1994) and Tim Duncan (2002, 2002), American nationalized players.
In addition, at 26 years old, he is the winner who was
the lowest draft pick to win an MVP
- he was
pick
41 in the 2014 edition - and the
first player in Denver history to
receive the award.
"The best season of my life"
"Stats-wise, you know, I think
this was the best season of my life
," Jokic said shortly after the award was announced.
"To be honest, I didn't even think about being in the NBA when I started playing basketball at home," Jokic recalled.
"I was playing the Euro League, because it was the closest top league to my country. But then the Denver Nuggets selected me, it was a chance to become an NBA player, and
I think I did a good job
taking advantage of that opportunity."
Dokic and Campazzo's Nuggets closed a regular series with 47 wins and 15 losses, which ranked them
third in the West
.
Jokic, a three-time NBA All-Star, signed a $
148 million five-year
maximum contract with Denver
in 2018.
With AFP
DS
Look also
NBA: Facundo Campazzo's contribution did not reach and Denver starts down in their semifinal against Suns
From Ginobili to Campazzo: keys to the new Argentine landing in the NBA