Seven facts about NBA Finals MVP Nikola Jokic

Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic was awarded the Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) award after his team

beat the Miami Heat 4-1 in the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals

on Monday.

He averaged 30.2 points, 14 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game in the series as the Western Conference top seed won their first title in 47 seasons. Here are seven facts about the Serb.

1. Two-time NBA MVP

He won the MVP award for the regular season for two consecutive years in 2021 and 2022, becoming the 15th player in the league’s history to do so. 

In 2021, he averaged 26.4 points, 10.8 rebounds and 8.3 assists, playing all 72 games for the team. In 2022, he carried the team with fellow stars Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr mostly injured and still managed career-highs of 27.1 points and 13.8 rebounds.

2. Drafted during a commercial

He was 19 when he was drafted by the Nuggets as the No. 41 pick in the second round in 2014. In fact, he was so anonymous that his selection was announced during a Taco Bell commercial on TV, the news only indicated at the bottom of the advertisement.

3. Nicknamed ‘The Joker’

His nickname “The Joker” has no association with the villain of the Batman movies. It actually came about because his former teammate Mike Miller struggled with Jokic’s last name, pronounced in Serbia as “yo-kitch”. Miller eventually opted for “joker”, which has caught on.

4. His love for horse racing

A video went viral in 2022 when Jokic showed up at a horse farm in Serbia to collect his regular season MVP award. The Nuggets had decided to surprise him by bringing the award to his home country. Jokic is a fan of horse racing and in the United States, he visits farms to observe and train horses. Earlier in March, he even made the Nuggets team wait for him for three hours while he spent time with American jockey Tim Tetrick.

5. The ‘sombor shuffle’

Every NBA star has his own signature move, and Jokic is one of them. It is similar to Dirk Nowitzki’s famous fadeaway shot, and Jokic’s “sombor shuffle” involves him taking a dribble, loading his weight onto his right leg and releasing a rainbow jumper.

Jokic discovered the shot when he had a left ankle injury in 2017

, which made him realise that he could shoot while jumping using his right leg.

6. Wedding ring tied to shoes

Jokic won his first NBA championship ring on Monday, but his wedding ring – which before every game he ties into his shoelaces – is equally important, too. He revealed that he does it to keep his family, including his wife Natalija, close to him. They have been married since October 2020 and have a one-year-old daughter.

7. Discovered by agent Misko Raznatovic

Jokic was

first picked up by famous European agent Misko Raznatovic

. The latter had seen the statistics Jokic posted in the Serbian Under-18 competition in a newspaper. Raznatovic admitted that Jokic was the first player his agency has signed without watching but he was impressed by the number of rebounds Jokic was accumulating in the youth league.