In another season of unpredictably dazzling passes and post moves, the most spontaneous scene of all involved Nikola Jokic simply walking off a basketball court.

It was January in Washington after a 42-point masterclass against an unimpressive opponent. A throng of Wizards fans flocked to the corner of their arena where Jokic would disappear down the tunnel toward the locker room. The enemy sent him off with an ovation. “There’s a lot of talented players in this league,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said afterward, “but if you don’t love Nikola Jokic, I don’t know what you’re looking for.”

Jokic, 29, was named Most Valuable Player in the NBA for the third time in his career Wednesday night, beating out finalists Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder) for the 2023-24 prize.

He is the ninth three-time MVP in league history, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Moses Malone. Only seven players have won the award three times in a four-year stretch.

“When I won the first time, I was like, ‘OK, this is cool. This is nice.’ When I won the second time, the list was way shorter,” Jokic said. “And now the list is kind of short short. So I’m just happy to be part of that group of guys, which is not a bad group of guys, right? … It’s a legacy for after the career, and I think I’m gonna be more, maybe, proud of myself after my career than I am right now.”

Jokic earned 79 of 99 first-place votes in a runaway victory. He was followed by Gilgeous-Alexander (15 first-place votes), Doncic (4) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (1). Voters rank their top five. The lowest Jokic finished on anyone’s ballot was third place. He amassed 926 points. Gilgeous-Alexander was the runner-up with 640 points.

Since the implementation of a media voting panel in 1980-81, only three players have finished top-two in MVP voting four consecutive years: Bird, Tim Duncan and now Jokic. Russell and Abdul-Jabbar accomplished the feat under the old voting system.

Jokic finished the regular season ranked fifth in total points, third in total rebounds and second in total assists — top-five in all three categories for the second time in his career. He averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds and nine assists per game, compiling 25 triple-doubles and shooting 58.3% from the field. His true shooting percentage eclipsed 65% for the third consecutive season.

“I think he’s stated his case pretty well,” longtime teammate Jamal Murray said Wednesday before the award was announced amid an awkward backdrop: Denver trailing a playoff series 2-0. “He does it every night. It’s hard to do what he does and face the kind of pressure that he does each and every day. He does it in the smallest ways. He makes everybody around us better. He’s a leader on the court and someone we expect greatness from every time he steps on the court. And he’s delivered. … He’s been so consistent all his career, all his MVP runs. He’s been so consistent. So I don’t expect one or two bad games to sway that in any way.”

When Jokic was on the court this season, the Nuggets outscored their opponents by 11.8 points per 100 possessions. When he was off the court, they were outscored by 8.6 points per 100 possessions, amounting to a 20.4-point difference in net rating. Denver’s 122.4 offensive rating with Jokic on the floor was more efficient than the best offensive team in the league, the Celtics (122.2). Denver’s 104.1 offensive rating without Jokic was lower than the worst offensive team in the league, the Grizzlies (106.8).

The Nuggets finished in a tie for the best record in the Western Conference. Their 57-25 regular season tied a franchise wins record. Jokic is the team’s only starter who has been named an All-Star in his career.

He averaged 101.3 touches per game, nearly 10 more than any other individual in the league, and 75.1 passes per game, 3.5 more than any other player. He led the NBA in most advanced metrics including player efficiency rating (31.0), win shares (17.0), win shares per 48 minutes (.299), offensive box plus/minus (9.0), defensive box plus/minus (4.2) and value over a replacement player (10.6).

“To be honest, I liked last year when I didn’t get it and then we won a championship. Much better,” Jokic said. “But I don’t know what to say. It’s a journey. It’s a process. It’s trusting your teammates; teammates trusting you. It’s just a whole collective effort that put me in front of, like, the bright spotlight.”

Jokic’s first two MVPs were bestowed before he had won a championship, or even reached the NBA Finals. Each was accompanied, therefore, by a fair degree of scrutiny. He didn’t have the winning reputation to correspond with his individual accolades.

That’s different this time. Jokic owns a Finals MVP trophy. A month before the startling round of applause he received in Washington, another unusual scene paralleled it, speaking volumes about the growth of Jokic’s eminence outside Denver. It was Dec. 12 in Chicago, and for the second time in three weeks, Jokic had just been tossed from a game after arguing with referees.

This time, as he sauntered toward the locker room to serve his sentence, the crowd started booing. Not at Jokic. At the officials. Only one technical foul prompted the ejection. Disappointment and disgust permeated through United Center as Bulls fans watched the reason they’d purchased their tickets disappear for the night.

2023-24 NBA MVP voting

(Can’t see on mobile? Click here.)