Nikola Jokic may have missed out on this year’s NBA Most Valuable Player award, but his place in history is more solid than ever. The Denver Nuggets star finished second in MVP balloting behind Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, becoming just the third player in league history to earn a top-two MVP finish in five or more consecutive seasons.
Jokic, who won the MVP in 2021, 2023, and 2024, was runner-up in both 2022 and 2025. He now joins Boston Celtics legends Bill Russell and Larry Bird in this exclusive club. Russell had six straight top-two finishes from 1958 to 1963, winning four of them. Bird achieved the same feat from 1981 to 1986, including a three-peat from 1984 to 1986.
Other greats like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Tim Duncan managed four-year streaks, while icons like Michael Jordan and LeBron James never extended their top-two streaks beyond three consecutive seasons.
Jokic’s case this year was statistically impressive. He became only the sixth player in NBA history to average a triple-double — at least 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists per game — over a full season. Yet, as history has shown, such dominance does not guarantee MVP honors. Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook also had triple-double seasons that didn’t result in MVP awards. Jokic now joins that list.
Adding to the narrative, for the fourth consecutive year, no U.S.-born player received a single first-place MVP vote. Gilgeous-Alexander, born in Canada, earned 71 first-place votes. Jokic, from Serbia, secured the remaining 29. The last time a U.S. player earned a first-place vote was in 2021.
LeBron James did make history of his own. The 39-year-old Lakers star returned to the MVP ballot after a two-year absence, finishing sixth overall. It marked the 20th time in his 22-year career that he has received at least one MVP vote, a league record.
Meanwhile, the drought for No. 1 overall draft picks in MVP voting continues. No top pick has won the award since James in 2013. Players like Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, and now Gilgeous-Alexander — all drafted outside the No. 1 spot — have claimed the honor since.
Another notable shift: for the first time in seven years, Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo did not earn a first-place vote. That streak now belongs to Jokic, who has received at least one first-place vote for five consecutive seasons.
Though Jokic didn’t win, his consistent excellence continues to rewrite the NBA’s record books.
