The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Jokic’s NBA MVP a win for hoopscrazed nations outside U.S.
LONDON » Maybe it’s the Çevapi, or the souvlaki, or the mbanga soup.
Whatever it is, there’s no denying the tinge of international flavor when it comes to the NBA elite with Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic about to become the league’s MVP for a second straight season, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. The MVP has not been publicly announced by the league.
This will be the fourth consecutive year that a foreign-born player has been crowned MVP, another first for the NBA.
The Serbian big man beat out two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo of Greece and the reigning champion Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia center Joel Embiid of Cameroon to mark another first — never before have the top three in MVP voting all been internationals.
The NBA playoffs are loaded with international talent, including Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic, the 2019 rookie of the year and Euroleague champion from Slovenia.
The influx of international talent was former Commissioner David Stern’s vision. He saw the NBA as a global entity and insisted the league be a driving force in growing the game internationally.
“It’s David Stern’s dream,” Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers said. “Everybody else is good. It’s a world game. It’s no longer just ‘us,’ whatever us means. It’s a world game and that’s a good thing.”
The ripple of effect of international players extends well beyond the U.S.
For the basketballmad countries of Serbia and Greece, the success of Jokic and Antetokounmpo means bragging rights. Antetokounmpo won back-to-back MVP awards (2018-19, 1920), and now the pride of Sombor, Serbia, has matched him.
“We are a country of basketball. This is more proof that we are the best,” said Marko Çosiç, who trained a teenage Jokic as strength and conditioning coach at Belgrade club Mega.