Nikola, Shai, Luka pace MVP derby

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic, the Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic and Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are the three finalists for the National Basketball Association (NBA) Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, the league said Sunday.

The league unveiled three finalists for each of its individual awards for the 2023-2024 regular season.

Serbia’s Jokic is an MVP finalist for the fourth straight season while France’s Victor Wembanyama is in the running for both Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors.

Jokic, who led the Nuggets to the title in 2023, won the MVP in 2021 and 2022 and finished runner-up in voting behind Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers last season.

This season Jokic averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds and 9.0 assists for Denver, which finished tied atop the Western Conference with Gilgeous-Alexander’s Thunder but are seeded second in the playoffs as the Thunder own the tiebreaker.

Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 30.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 2.0 steals this season. Doncic led the league in scoring, averaging 33.9 points, to go along with 9.2 rebounds and 9.8 assists for the Mavs.

Gilgeous-Alexander’s teammate Chet Holmgren and Charlotte Hornets forward Brandon Miller joined San Antonio’s sensational Wembanyama in the battle for Rookie of the Year.

Wembanyama set a slew of records in his first NBA season, averaging 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 3.6 blocks and 1.2 steals, while Holmgren averaged 16.5 points and 7.9 rebounds for Oklahoma City after missing the 2022-23 season with a foot injury.

Miller averaged 17.4 points and made 184 three-pointers this season.