Denver Nuggets center Nikola Joki? is the recipient of the Maurice Podoloff Trophy as the 2020-21 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player, the NBA (www.NBA.com) announced today.

With the first Kia NBA MVP Award of his career, Joki? becomes the first player to earn the honor as a member of the Nuggets. He is also the first player from Serbia to be selected as the NBA MVP and joins Dirk Nowitzki (Germany) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece) as MVP winners from Europe.

A second-round pick selected 41st overall by Denver in the 2014 NBA Draft, Joki? is the lowest-drafted player to be named NBA MVP with the exception of three-time MVP Moses Malone, who was not selected in the NBA Draft. The previous lowest-drafted players to win the award were two-time MVPs Antetokounmpo and Steve Nash, both selected with the 15th overall pick in their respective drafts.

Joki? received 91 first-place votes and earned 971 total points from a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters as well as the Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award fan vote, making for 101 ballots. Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (586 points) finished in second place, followed by Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (453 points) in third place, Milwaukee Bucks forward Antetokounmpo (348 points) in fourth place and Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul (139 points) in fifth place.

Players received 10 points for each first-place vote, seven points for each second-place vote, five points for each third-place vote, three points for each fourth-place vote and one point for each fifth-place vote.

In his sixth NBA season, Joki? played all 72 games and averaged a career-high 26.4 points, 10.9 rebounds, a career-high 8.4 assists and 1.32 steals in 34.8 minutes. With his season averages, Joki? ranked 12th in the NBA in points, ninth in rebounds, sixth in assists and 22nd in steals. He is the third player in NBA history to average at least 26.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 8.0 assists in a season, joining Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook.

Joki? made an NBA-leading 732 field goals and shot 56.6 percent from the field, 38.8 percent from three-point range and a career-high 86.8 percent from the free throw line. He led the NBA in double-doubles with 60 and ranked second in triple-doubles with 16. Joki? set single-game career highs in points with 50 (vs. the Sacramento Kings on Feb. 6); rebounds with 22 (vs. the Suns on Jan. 23); assists with 18 (vs. the Rockets on Dec. 28); and steals with seven (vs. the Brooklyn Nets on Jan. 12).

Behind Joki?, Denver posted a 47-25 record and earned the third seed in the Western Conference for the 2021 NBA Playoffs. The Nuggets finished with the fifth-highest single-season winning percentage in franchise history (.653).

An NBA All-Star selection for the third consecutive season, Joki? was named the Kia NBA Western Conference Player of the Month twice (December/January and March) and the NBA Western Conference Player of the Week three times (Weeks 5, 6 and 13).

Joki?, 26, has played all six of his NBA seasons with Denver, averaging 18.5 points, 9.8 rebounds and 6.0 assists in 453 career games. This season, he broke the franchise records for career double-doubles and triple-doubles. He also became the first Nuggets player to start an NBA All-Star Game since 2011.

For the 12th consecutive season, the NBA and Kia America gave fans the opportunity to vote for the Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award. The fan vote, conducted online and through Twitter, counted as one vote toward determining the winner.

The Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award trophy is named in honor of Maurice Podoloff, who served as the NBA’s first commissioner from 1946 until his retirement in 1963. Podoloff was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1974.

The voting results for the 2020-21 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award are below. The balloting was tabulated by the independent accounting firm Ernst & Young LLP. Complete ballots for each voter will be posted at https://PR.NBA.com after the announcement of all end-of-season awards.

Voting Results: 2020-21 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award

Player (Team)

1st Place Votes

(10 Points)

2nd Place Votes

(7 Points)

3rd Place Votes

(5 Points)

4th Place Votes

(3 Points)

5th Place Votes

(1 Point)

Total Points

Nikola Joki? (Denver)

91

8

1

0

0

971

Joel Embiid (Philadelphia)

1

62

23

8

3

586

Stephen Curry (Golden State)

5

23

32

23

13

453

Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee)

1

5

34

41

10

348

Chris Paul (Phoenix)

2

2

8

13

26

139

Luka Don?i? (Dallas)

0

1

0

7

14

42

Damian Lillard (Portland)

0

0

1

5

18

38

Julius Randle (New York)

0

0

1

2

9

20

Derrick Rose (New York)

1

0

0

0

0

10

Rudy Gobert (Utah)

0

0

0

1

5

8

Russell Westbrook (Washington)

0

0

1

0

0

5

Ben Simmons (Philadelphia)

0

0

0

1

0

3

James Harden (Brooklyn)

0

0

0

0

1

1

LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers)

0

0

0

0

1

1

Kawhi Leonard (LA Clippers)

0

0

0

0

1

1

Below is the list of winners of the Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award.

Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Winners

1955-56 – Bob Pettit, St. Louis

1956-57 – Bob Cousy, Boston

1957-58 – Bill Russell, Boston

1958-59 – Bob Pettit, St. Louis

1959-60 – Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia

1960-61 – Bill Russell, Boston

1961-62 – Bill Russell, Boston

1962-63 – Bill Russell, Boston

1963-64 – Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati

1964-65 – Bill Russell, Boston

1965-66 – Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia

1966-67 – Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia

1967-68 – Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia

1968-69 – Wes Unseld, Baltimore

1969-70 – Willis Reed, New York

1970-71 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Milwaukee

1971-72 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Milwaukee

1972-73 – Dave Cowens, Boston

1973-74 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Milwaukee

1974-75 – Bob McAdoo, Buffalo

1975-76 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, L.A. Lakers

1976-77 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, L.A. Lakers

1977-78 – Bill Walton, Portland

1978-79 – Moses Malone, Houston

1979-80 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, L.A. Lakers

1980-81 – Julius Erving, Philadelphia

1981-82 – Moses Malone, Houston

1982-83 – Moses Malone, Philadelphia

1983-84 – Larry Bird, Boston

1984-85 – Larry Bird, Boston

1985-86 – Larry Bird, Boston

1986-87 – Magic Johnson, L.A. Lakers

1987-88 – Michael Jordan, Chicago

1988-89 – Magic Johnson, L.A. Lakers

1989-90 – Magic Johnson, L.A. Lakers

1990-91 – Michael Jordan, Chicago

1991-92 – Michael Jordan, Chicago

1992-93 – Charles Barkley, Phoenix

1993-94 – Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston

1994-95 – David Robinson, San Antonio

1995-96 – Michael Jordan, Chicago

1996-97 – Karl Malone, Utah

1997-98 – Michael Jordan, Chicago

1998-99 – Karl Malone, Utah

1999-00 – Shaquille O’Neal, L.A. Lakers

2000-01 – Allen Iverson, Philadelphia

2001-02 – Tim Duncan, San Antonio

2002-03 – Tim Duncan, San Antonio

2003-04 – Kevin Garnett, Minnesota

2004-05 – Steve Nash, Phoenix

2005-06 – Steve Nash, Phoenix

2006-07 – Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas

2007-08 – Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers

2008-09 – LeBron James, Cleveland

2009-10 – LeBron James, Cleveland

2010-11 – Derrick Rose, Chicago

2011-12 – LeBron James, Miami

2012-13 – LeBron James, Miami

2013-14 – Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City

2014-15 – Stephen Curry, Golden State

2015-16 – Stephen Curry, Golden State

2016-17 – Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City

2017-18 – James Harden, Houston

2018-19 – Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee

2019-20 – Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee

2020-21 – Nikola Joki?, Denver

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of National Basketball Association (NBA).