“Another Joker Master Class” – Nikola Jokic gets fans’ nod over LeBron James for MVP after bronze medal in Paris Olympics
Fans want Nikola Jokic, whose triple-double brought Serbia bronze at the Paris Olympics, to be MVP over LeBron James.
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Serbia's Nikola Jokic and LeBron James are competing for Paris Olympics MVP (image via FIBA/X)
When Serbia lost the semifinals of the Paris Olympics men’s basketball event, fans of the game were sad that one of the best players in the world would not get a chance to fight for the ultimate medal. However, Nikola Jokic, with his passion for his country, put up a game clinching triple-double performance in the third place-deciding game against Germany. After that performance, fans touted him as the best player over LeBron James.
The game was essentially won in the first quarter when Serbia took a 9-point lead. Then onwards, it was a matter of holding on to the lead. Nikola Jokic kept his teammates in the game, while also getting crucial points along the way. Add to that his work on the glass which helped the Germans stay away from capitalizing on second chance points. All of that ensured ‘The Joker’ ended up with a triple double. It was the 5th ever time that a player has managed to achieve that feat in the tournament.
The win landed the Serbians the bronze and no one was happier than the Denver Nuggets superstar. He is as passionate for his country as they come. Jokic led the celebrations and rejoiced in the win. This cements a year to rejoice for the 29-year-old as he not only swept the MVP award for the 3rd time of his career, but also added a medal for his country.
It must be noted that this was not supposed to be a straightforward victory. The Serbians lost to Germany in the FIBA World Cup finals. However, the difference was that this time, they had Nikola Jokic in the lineup. Now with his history making performance, he has given the organizers a headache.
Nikola Jokic could be Olympics MVP
It so happens that he was second in the MVP ranking up until this game started. If one brings his performance into the MVP calculations, he should be in the lead now.
However, since Serbia lost to the USA, LeBron James is still in the lead. But fans have started to voice that, with Jokic leading the tournament in points, rebounds, assists and steals, he should be crowned the MVP of these Olympics.
They took to social media to make the case for the award to be handed out to the former NBA Champion. Check out some of those comments below:
Fans may want Nikola Jokic as the MVP of the Paris Olympics, but one of the prime methods of calculating MVP ranking is team ranking. Now Serbia is ranked 3rd. It might happen that it could weigh heavily against him when the final rankings are announced.
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Joseph Varghese
(2269 Articles Published)