Nikola Jokic wins the 2023 Western Conference Finals MVP award
Nikola Jokic joined the Denver Nuggets in 2015 and had an immediate impact on the team. In his rookie year, Jokic came in third in the MVP voting. By 2020, Jokic had the Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals. There, they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in five games. After that, Jokic won the 2021 and 2022 awards for MVP. Finally, he has a postseason MVP to add to that. After sweeping the Lakers in the 2023 Western Conference Finals, Jokic is the series MVP.
Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets have come a long way in eight years. While the Nuggets were never complete bottom feeders, they were not a good team in 2015. Slowly, they began winning more games until they broke through in 2019. As the second seed, they seemed primed for a run. However, Damian Lillard and the Blazers had other plans. In 2020, they got past the Jazz and Clippers to lose to the Lakers. After that, 2021 saw them avenge 2019 with Portland, but lose to the Phoenix Suns.
Nikola Jokic gave the Golden State Warriors all he had in 2022. The only problem is that Stephen Curry was on a mission. This season, LeBron James’ Lakers took care of the Warriors in six games. That said, this left Nikola’s Nuggets to face off with the Lakers. One thing they made clear is that this isn’t 2020 anymore. To that end, Jokic and the Nuggets swept the Lakers. For his outstanding play, Jokic was presented with the Western Conference Finals MVP trophy.
Nikola Jokic wins the 2023 Western Conference Finals MVP award
