Nuggets beat Heat, capture franchise's first NBA title
The Denver Nuggets completed what was a dominant season by beating the Heat in five games, capturing the franchise's first NBA title.
SportsPulse, USA TODAY
DENVER ― Nikola Jokic claimed he didn’t care about winning a third consecutive regular-season MVP in 2022-23.
All throughout the playoffs when he posted a statistical line in the box score that had never been accomplished in NBA history ― such as the first 30-point, 20-rebound triple-double in the Finals ― Jokic downplayed it.
"It’s just a stat," he said. "I don’t care."
The Denver Nuggets’ reserved but influential star wanted to win the championship.
Dismissing individual stats in favor of team success, Jokic said, "My focus has never been those kinds of records or whatever the media are putting on me. I'm just trying to win a game and just play every game. Go step-by-step and play every game to win a game, as simple as that."
He didn’t win the award he didn’t care about, but earned the accomplishment he wanted.
The Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat, 94-89, in Game 5 on Monday, capturing the franchise’s first NBA title.
Despite his monotone pleas that he is just a one player, he is much more than that. He is among the top-3 players in the league, and for his work against the Heat, Jokic earned Finals MVP.
In five games against the Heat, Jokic averaged 30.2 points, 14 rebounds and 7.2 assists. He finished the series with 28 points, 16 rebounds and four assists in Game 5.
"The job is done, we can go home now," Jokic told ESPN after the Nuggets' Game 5 win.
Nikola Jokic displays all-around game in NBA Finals
The Heat had minimal counters to Jokic’s gifted skillset. He beat Miami with his scoring, rebounding, passing and defense.
∎ He had 27 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds in Game 1; 32 points, 21 rebounds, 10 assists and two blocks in Game 3; and 23 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocks in Game 4.
∎ He is the first player to average at least 30.0 points, 14.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists in an NBA Finals series.
∎ Jokic, 28, is also the first player to have at least 500 points, 250 rebounds and 150 assists in a single postseason, and he led all players in total points (600), rebounds (269) and assists (190) in the 2023 NBA Playoffs, becoming the first player to lead all three categories in a single postseason.
∎ Jokic is the 11th player to win at least two regular-season NBA MVPs and one NBA Finals MVP.
∎ He is the lowest-drafted player to win the Finals MVP award, except for Moses Malone who was not selected in the draft.
From second-rounder from Serbia to NBA Finals MVP
Jokic added another chapter to his remarkable story. Building a Hall of Fame resume, Jokic was the 41st pick in the second round in 2014 ― the greatest second-round pick in the league history and the only modern-day second-rounder to win MVP.
From Sombor, Serbia, Jokic professes a love of family and horses and eschews fame and media appearances. "My journey, I don't think it's that interesting," he said, refusing to open up about his life story.
He came to the NBA with potential. But concerns existed: slow feet, can’t jump, out of shape and overweight. He was not a sure-fire, can't-miss lottery pick.
Season by season, he dispelled those concerns and emerged first as an All-Star, then All-NBA and then MVP winner in 2021 and 2022.
"It just so happens that the two-time MVP and a great player in Nikola kind of embodies everything," Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. "When you have a guy that has had the success that Nikola has had, being your hardest worker and being as selfless as he is and trusting as much as he does, well, that allows everybody else to kind of fall in line."
Jokic is an NBA champion and Finals MVP, just the sixth international player to win the award, joining Hakeem Olajuwon, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Dirk Nowitzki and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Nikola Jokic shares moment with daughter
Jokic shared a special moment with his daughter Ognjena, who turns 2 in September. He held her on the stage set up on the court as the Nuggets were awarded the Larry O’Brien trophy and Jokic received the Bill Russell Finals MVP award.
“Not just daughter, my wife (Natalija) who was with me since day one, even in Belgrade. … But they are somebodies that are in my life,” Jokic said. “It means a lot, and without them I'm not going to be here 100%.”
At one point, he and his wife shared a home with Jokic’s brothers, Strahinja and Nemanja, who live most of the year in Denver and are regulars at Nuggets games.
“That was a circus,” Jokic said.
Even in a championship celebration in which he was the most celebrated player, Jokic maintained perspective.
"We succeed in our jobs, and we won the whole thing," he said. "It's an amazing feeling. But like I said before, it's not everything in the world. OK, I won it. OK, not I, we won it.
"But I think it's not the most important thing in the world still. There is a bunch of things that I like to do. Probably that's a normal thing. Nobody likes his job, or maybe they do. They're lying."
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