DENVER (KDVR) — The beginning of the NBA season is fast approaching and alongside it comes the dialogue surrounding the players, teams, coaches, and the results of the season that will unfold before them. One popular topic is the race for the NBA Awards highlighted by the prestigious NBA MVP Award.
On Tuesday, a panel of experts from ESPN were asked to predict who they think will win each award at the end of the NBA season. One name that kept popping up around the top of the list in the MVP conversation was resident horse enthusiast and Denver Nuggets superstar, Nikola Jokic.
Jokic has a history with this award after winning it three times in the past four years including the most recent season, but was not listed as the odds-on favorite for the 2024-2025 season. Taking the top honors for this year’s prediction was Dallas Mavericks point guard Luka Doncic.
Each panelist had three votes to place, their first-place vote being worth five points, the second-place vote being worth three points, and their third-placed vote being worth one point.
Doncic topped the voting with 61 total points and received 48% of the first-place votes following a strong run to the NBA Finals last year. Jokic came second nearest receiving 40 points, and hot on his heels was Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at 37 points who was runner-up for the award last season. There was a bit of disparity between the top three candidates and the remaining field with the fourth highest points total being 15.
What is predicted to be a three-horse race can yield historic results for the Nugget’s big man if he is able to climb atop the rankings. Jokic would join a list of five NBA players to have won the award at least four times: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 6x, Bill Russell 5x, Michael Jordan 5x, Wilt Chamberlain 4x, and could join Lebron James as the second active player with four MVP wins. Not a bad group of names to be associated with.
Another Denver Nugget making noise in the award rankings is the newly acquired Russell Westbrook. Westbrook, a former MVP himself, was mentioned amongst the top names for potential Sixth Man of the Year candidates.
The MVP and Sixth Man of the Year race along with the rest of the NBA Award predictions can be found on ESPN’s website.
The 2024-2025 NBA MVP race is sure to be a thrilling contest with the stat sheet stuffing top three candidates and what will likely include a couple of dark horse contenders. Will the Nugget’s big man be able to stave off the rest of the best and claim his fourth MVP in five years, or will the crown find its way to a new head?
