LOS ANGELES: Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic was named NBA Most valuable Player for the third time in four seasons on Wednesday.
The 29-year-old Serbian star, who won the award in 2021 and 2022, finished runner-up in the voting in 2023 but had the satisfaction of leading the Nuggets to a first NBA title.
This season he averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds and 9.0 assists in the regular season and beat out Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks in final voting for the award.
He became the second player, after Oscar Robertson, to record 2,000 points, 900 rebounds and 600 assists in a season.
His 25 triple-doubles and 68 double-doubles were both second in the league.
Jokic enters elite territory with a third MVP crown. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s six MVPs are the most ever. Bill Russell and Michael Jordan won five apiece and Wilt Chamberlain and LeBron James four.
Jokic joins Moses Malone, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson as three-time winners after earning 79 first-placed votes compared to 15 for Gilgeous-Alexander and four for Doncic.
Behind Jokic, the 57-25 Nuggets matched the franchise high for victories in a season — although they were tied for best record in the West with Oklahoma City and ended up with the second seed.
Whether Jokic will be able to combine an MVP award and the title this season remains to be seen.
The Nuggets dropped the first two games of their Western Conference semifinal series to the Minnesota Timberwolves and face the tough task of trying to claw back on the Timberwolves’ home court starting on Friday.
Jokic’s victory marks the sixth straight season that the MVP award has gone to a player born outside the United States. The last US-born player to win was James Harden in 2018.
Nuggets’ Jokic scoops third NBA Most Valuable Player award
https://arab.news/mgrrf
Nuggets’ Jokic scoops third NBA Most Valuable Player award
- Jokic joins Moses Malone, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson as three-time winners
Captain Kane helps undermanned Bayern go nine clear in Bundesliga
- Kane toasted an “amazing year” in 2025 where he won his first league title, telling DAZN: “We started to build a spirit and a team energy that is hard to break and we took that into this season
HEIDENHEIM, Germany: An understrength Bayern Munich coasted to a 4-0 away win over lowly Heidenheim on Sunday, restoring their nine-point lead atop the table in Harry Kane’s first match as captain.
Borussia Dortmund had closed the gap to the leaders to six points on Friday but Bayern were in complete control in the last Bundesliga match before the winter break, winning thanks to goals from Josip Stanisic, Michael Olize, Luis Diaz and Kane.
Kane toasted an “amazing year” in 2025 where he won his first league title, telling DAZN: “We started to build a spirit and a team energy that is hard to break and we took that into this season.
“We know there’s a long way to go until the end of the season but we’re doing all the right things.”
Bayern arrived in Heidenheim missing almost a full starting XI, with Manuel Neuer, Joshua Kimmich, Konrad Laimer, Nicolas Jackson, Kim Min-jae and Aleksandar Pavlovic among those missing through injury, suspension or Africa Cup of Nations duty.
Only two outfield players on Bayern’s bench had ever started a Bundesliga match.
Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said it “felt like a Covid week,” adding: “The guys were dropping out one after another.
“I’m proud of the team because it’s not a given to come here and put in such a performance.”
The absentees meant England skipper Kane was handed the captain’s armband for the first time in his 121st competitive match for Bayern.
Olize had eye surgery on Monday but had no trouble guiding Bayern to an opener, curling in a corner for Stanisic to score in the 15th minute via a Jonathan Tah pass.
Olize doubled up for Bayern just after the half-hour mark in similar fashion, with a free-kick finding Hiroki Ito who laid it off for the France winger to tap home.
Looking fresh after missing Bayern’s last three matches with suspension, Diaz headed in the match-sealing goal with four minutes remaining.
Kane had missed a clear chance just after half-time but got on the scoresheet in stoppage time, sidestepping two defenders before driving a low shot inside the right post for his 30th goal of the season in all competitions.
The result leaves Heidenheim second last and stranded in the relegation spots, one point from safety.
Coach Frank Schmidt, a one-time Heidenheim player who took the club from the fifth division to the Bundesliga and the UEFA Conference League, put the focus on himself.
“I’m not satisfied. Not with myself, not with us, or with the coaching team, because we’ve allowed too many chances,” the 51-year-old said.
“It’s my responsibility to take care to make the team more stable than it is — that’s the first task.”
In Sunday’s other match, bottom-club Mainz and 16th-placed St. Pauli fought out a scoreless draw.
