Nikola Jokic is an MVP again. After being a runner-up to Joel Embiid in the MVP race in the 2022-23 NBA season, Jokic is back on top, as he garnered a total of 79 first-place votes and 926 overall points in the voting. Winning the award again adds to the ever-growing legacy of Jokic in the NBA, but everyone close to or at least followed him from afar knows that individual awards don't excite him as much as team success.

“To be honest, I liked last year when I didn’t win it and we won a championship much better,” Jokic said Wednesday night shortly after it was announced that he would be receiving his third Most Valuable Player award (h/t DNVR Nuggets).

Jokic faced competition for the award mainly from the pair of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks but based on the final MVP voting result, there seems to be barely any doubt in the collective thinking of the voters that the Serbian superstar is still the best player in the league today. Gilgeous-Alexander was second in the voting with 640 points, mostly from his 15 first-place votes. Doncic was third with 566 points and just four first-place votes.

For what it's worth, Jokic received more first-place this season than Embiid did a year ago, with the Sixers star collecting 73 No. 1 votes at that time. Jokic is the single biggest part that makes the Nuggets machine go. This season, he averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 9.0 assists across 79 games, while also connecting on 58.3 percent of his shots from the field and 35.9 percent from behind the arc.

For what it's worth, Nikola Jokic received more first-place this season than Embiid did a year ago, with the Sixers star collecting 73 No. 1 votes at that time. Jokic is the single biggest part that makes the Nuggets machine go. This season, he averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 9.0 assists across 79 games, while also connecting on 58.3 percent of his shots from the field and 35.9 percent from behind the arc. Jokic also posted career-highs in Win Shares (17.0) and Value Over Replacement Player or VORP with 10.6.

Whether Nikola Jokic made it a personal mission to reclaim the MVP status many others thought should have been his instead of Embiid's in the 2022-23 campaign, his on-court production and effectiveness on the floor this season undeniably were a big reason why the Nuggets are still playing this deep into May.

Also, behind Jokic's silent leadership, the Nuggets finished second in the Western Conference standings this season and eliminated the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs.

Nikola Jokic's true focus is on willing the Nuggets to another title

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) controls the ball in the second half against the Minnesota Timberwolves during game one of the second round for the 2024 NBA playoffs at Ball Arena.
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

With his third MVP award already in the bag, Nikola Jokic can now turn his full attention again on helping the Nuggets. The Jokic and the defending NBA champs have their backs pressed hard against the wall in the second round versus the Minnesota Timberwolves, who have taken both of the first two games of the series in Mile High City. But so long as Denver has Jokic healthy and suiting up, it can't lose hope. Back in 2020 during the bubble, the Nuggets successfully won two series despite falling down a 3-1 hole in both of them.

So far in the playoffs, Jokic is averaging 27.0 points, 15.0 rebounds, and 9.4 assists per game.