Nuggets center Jokic captures his second straight MVP award

Nikola Jokic plays for Denver. And for Serbia.

Both places can once again make the same claim: For the second consecutive season, they're home to the best player in the NBA.

The league announced Wednesday night that Jokic had captured backto-back MVP awards. The Nuggets' big man is the second consecutive international player to win two in a row, after Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo — who hails from Greece — earned the title in 2019 and 2020.

This marks the first time international players have won the award in four consecutive seasons. Canada's Steve Nash went back-toback for Phoenix in 2005 and 2006, followed by Germany's Dirk Nowitzki winning for Dallas in 2007.

International players finished 1-2-3 in this year's MVP voting. Jokic got 65 first-place votes and 875 points from the panel of sportswriters and broadcasters that cover the league and decide on awards. Philadelphia's Joel Embiid was second with 26 first-place votes and 706 points; Antetokounmpo was third, with nine firstplace votes and 595 points. Devin Booker of Phoenix wound up fourth.

“I don't know what else you can say about Nikola at this point,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said in a statement. “He's consistently improved his game, he's consistently proven people wrong when they doubt him and he's consistently the best player on the floor night in and night out.”

The 27-year-old Jokic averaged 27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds and 7.9 assists on a team that was missing two max players in Jamal Murray (ACL) and Michael Porter Jr. (back). The do-it-all center nicknamed “Joker” created a new category, too, in becoming the first NBA player to eclipse 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 500 assists in a season.

He's now a member of another rare club — the 13th player to win backto-back NBA MVP awards. He joined the likes of Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, LeBron James (twice), Nash, Tim Duncan, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Moses Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (twice). Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell each won the award in three straight seasons.

Jokic was taken by the Nuggets with the 41st pick in the 2014 draft.

Hall of Fame center Lanier dies at 73

Bob Lanier, the lefthanded big man who muscled up beside the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as one of the NBA's top players of the 1970s, has died. He was 73.

The NBA said Lanier died Tuesday after a short illness. The Hall of Famer had worked for the league as a global ambassador. The Athletic reported in 2019 that Lanier was being treated for bladder cancer.

Lanier played 14 seasons with the Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks and averaged 20.1 points and 10.1 rebounds for his career. He is third on the Pistons' career list in both points and rebounds. Detroit drafted Lanier with the No. 1 overall pick in 1970 after he led St. Bonaventure to the Final Four.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Lanier was among the most talented centers in league history, and added that his accomplishments went far beyond what he did on the court.

“For more than 30 years, Bob served as our global ambassador and as a special assistant to David Stern and then me, traveling the world to teach the game's values and make a positive impact on young people everywhere,” Silver said in a statement. “It was a labor of love for Bob, who was one of the kindest and most genuine people I have ever been around.”

At 6-foot-10 and 250 pounds, Lanier was considered a big man during his time and used that bulk to his advantage.

“Bob Lanier will always be one of the big men of basketball,” Abdul-Jabbar said in a statement posted on social media. “Not just because of the size of his body but because of the size of his heart.”

Lanier went into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992. But his boat-size shoes got there ahead of him, with a display of his bronzed sneakers in the shrine.

He was known for wearing size 22 shoes, although that was disputed in 1989 by a Converse representative, who told The Atlanta Constitution that Lanier wore size 18 1/2.

“The 22 he was reputed to wear was a Korean size,” shoe rep Gary Stoken said.