Nikola Jokic wins 3rd NBA MVP award: Who else has done that?

Jeremy Vernon

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Nikola Jokic wins 3rd NBA MVP award: Who else has done that? image

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic just won his third NBA Most Valuable Player award.

The 6-foot-11 Serbian played 79 games this season — his most in one year since 2018-19 (80) — and averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds and 9.0 assists per game. With Jokic leading the way, Denver finished as the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference with an overall record of 57-25.

In terms of advanced stats, Jokic led all NBA players in total win shares (17.0), Player Efficiency Rating (31.0), box score plus-minus (13.2) and Value over Replacement Player (10.6).

Jokic is the ninth player in NBA history to take home the award three separate times, and the first player since LeBron James to win three times in a four-year stretch.

Here is a look at the eight other players in NBA history who have earned at least three MVPs.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (6)

The NBA record-holder for Most Valuable Player awards with six, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was an All-Star in each of his 20 seasons and the most dominant big man in the league throughout the 1970s.

It didn’t take long for Abdul-Jabbar to make an impact after Milwaukee drafted him in 1969. After finishing third in MVP voting as a rookie in 1969-70, the 7-footer won the award in three of the next four seasons and five times over a seven-year span. Despite the impressive personal numbers, Abdul-Jabbar only won one NBA championship over his first 10 NBA seasons — doing so alongside Oscar Robertson in 1970-71 in his second year with the Bucks. 

It was Abdul-Jabbar’s 11th season that brought him his sixth and final MVP, as well as his second championship, this time as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. During the season, Kareem averaged 24.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists and a league-high 3.4 blocks per game. 

The second half of Abdul-Jabbar’s career was almost the antithesis of his first 10 years. Playing for the Lakers, Kareem won five NBA titles from 1980-88 while Los Angeles won the Western Conference eight times across the decade.

When Abdul-Jabbar retired in 1989, he did so as the NBA’s all-time leader in points (38,387), field goals made (15,837) and minutes played (57,446). He still holds the latter two records to this day.

Bill Russell (5)

The NBA’s first two-way star at center, Bill Russell won more titles during his career than anyone else (11) — the final two as a player-coach — and dominated the league throughout the 1960s with the Boston Celtics.

Like Abdul-Jabbar, Russell earned his first MVP in his second season in 1957-58 while averaging 16.7 points and 22.7 rebounds per game. Ironically, this was the only year from 1957-1966 where the Celtics didn’t win the NBA championship. They lost in the Finals to the St. Louis Hawks, who were led by Hall-of-Famer and two-time MVP Bob Pettit.

From the start of the 1958-59 season to the end of 1964-65, Russell won four MVPs and averaged 16.6 points and a league-high 23.9 rebounds per game. And while blocks weren’t kept as an official stat until 1973, many experts believe he averaged between six and eight per game, which would smash the current NBA record of 3.5 by Mark Eaton.

On top of his achievements as a player and coach, Russell is also considered an early civil rights pioneer in basketball. He is widely considered the first Black superstar in NBA history and was the first Black MVP in league history.

He is also responsible for organizing the first player boycott in league history after an October 1961 incident where Celtics players Sam Jones and Tom Sanders were refused service in a hotel cafe in Lexington, Ky., because they were Black. 

In 1967, Russell joined Abdul-Jabbar, NFL running back Jim Brown and many others at an event called the Cleveland Summit where they voiced support for Muhammad Ali’s decision not to serve in the Vietnam War.

Michael Jordan (5)

Widely considered basketball’s GOAT (Greatest Of All Time), Michael Jordan won all five of his Most Valuable Player awards as a member of the Chicago Bulls. After earning All-Star honors in each of his first two seasons in the league, Jordan had his best scoring year in 1986-87 when he exploded for 37.1 points per game, the most by any player since Wilt Chamberlain averaged 44.8 in 1962-63.

Jordan earned his first MVP award in 1987-88 and finished among the top-three players in voting in each of the next two seasons, but things completely changed in 1990-91 when the superstar guard won his second MVP while leading the Bulls to their first NBA championship.

Chicago was the dynasty of the 1990s, winning three championships in a row on two separate occasions — from 1991-93 and from 1996-98. Jordan was crowned the league’s Most Valuable Player four times during the decade, including twice after taking a year away from the team to pursue a career in baseball. His final MVP came in his last year with the Bulls in 1997-98, when he averaged 28.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game and played all 82 regular season games for the first time since 1990-91.

After three seasons away from the game, Jordan returned for two final years with the Washington Wizards. Playing at the ages of 39 and 40, he still managed to average 21.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game.

While many regard Jordan as the best scorer in NBA history, he is also one of the most underrated defensive players of all time. He was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year in 1987-88 and led the league in steals on three separate occasions up until his first retirement in 1993.

Jordan was also the majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets, formerly known as the Charlotte Bobcats, from 2010 to 2023. He bought the team from Robert Johnson, who was the first Black majority owner in league history in 2004.

Wilt Chamberlain (4)

The NBA leader in several per-game statistical categories, Wilt Chamberlain was the best player in the league from the moment he stepped on the floor as a rookie in 1959. In his first year with the Philadelphia Warriors in 1959-60, Chamberlain won league MVP honors after leading the NBA in points (37.6) and rebounds (27.0) per game.

Chamberlain wouldn’t win MVP again until 1966-68, when he took home the award three years in a row, but he was the most statistically dominant player in the league throughout the 1960s. He led the NBA in scoring seven times in his first 10 seasons, including averaging an NBA-record 50.4 points per game in 1961-62. Despite doing that and averaging 24.3 rebounds per game, Wilt finished second that year in MVP voting behind Russell. 

Arguably the most famous moment of Chamberlain’s entire career came in March 1962, when he scored 100 points in a win over the New York Knicks. Wilt made 36-of-63 field goals in the game and was 28-of-32 from the free-throw line. Chamberlain’s 100 points are still a record to this day for the most in a single game. The closest anyone has come was when Kobe Bryant scored 81 on the Raptors in January 2006. 

When he retired, Chamberlain did so as a 13-time All-Star, 11-time league leader in rebounds and a seven-time leader in points scored. He ranks first in NBA history in total rebounds with 23,924 — which is over 2,000 more than the next closest player — and seventh in league history in total points with 31,419.

A little-known fact about Chamberlain is that he actually started his professional basketball career with the Harlem Globetrotters in 1958-59. Wilt left the University of Kansas after his junior year, but he wasn’t able to play in the NBA yet because of a rule barring players from joining until after their college class had graduated. Chamberlain made $50,000 in his lone year with the Globetrotters and regularly returned to perform with the team after his retirement from the NBA.

LeBron James (4)

The greatest player of the 2000s so far, LeBron James lived up to the hype as a high-school prodigy that jumped straight to the NBA in 2003. In his first five seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers, James won Rookie of the Year and was an All-Star four times.

He finally broke through to win his first MVP in 2008-09 while with the Cavaliers. That year, he averaged 28.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game while leading Cleveland all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Orlando Magic. And despite winning MVP again the following season, LeBron famously took his “talents to South Beach” in the summer of 2010 by joining the Miami Heat.

James’ first year in Miami (2010-11) was ultimately one to forget in the grand scheme of things, as he finished third in MVP voting and the Heat lost the NBA Finals to the Dallas Mavericks. But the next two years saw LeBron win his final two Most Valuable Player awards while also winning his first two titles and first two Finals MVPs. During his four-year stretch with the Heat, he averaged 26.9 points, 7.6 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game while shooting 54.3% from the field.

LeBron’s homecoming to Cleveland commenced in the summer of 2014, and the next four years saw James lead the Cavs to four-straight Finals appearances. In 2016, Cleveland did the improbable by upsetting the Golden State Warriors — who won 73 games during the regular season — in the NBA Finals. In the seven-game series, LeBron averaged 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds and 8.9 assists per game and was named Finals MVP.

After the 2017-18 season, James signed a free-agent deal with the Lakers, and this season was his sixth in Los Angeles. In 2019-20, LeBron led the Lakers to an NBA Finals win over the Denver Nuggets. That season’s playoffs were played in the Bubble, a biosecure facility at Walt Disney World in Florida, to protect players from the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the 2023-24 season, LeBron broke Abdul-Jabbar’s record for total points in a career. He is the only player in league history to score at least 40,000 points.

Magic Johnson (3)

The lynchpin of the “Showtime” Lakers, Magic Johnson’s career was full of flashy passes and transition wizardry, but he was also the heart of his Los Angeles team throughout the 1980s.

Johnson was thrust into the fire immediately to start his career, as he had to start at center for an injured Abdul-Jabbar in Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals against the Philadelphia 76ers. Playing out of position, the 6-foot-9 Johnson totaled 42 points, 15 assists and 12 rebounds to clinch the title for the Lakers. He earned Finals MVP honors for his troubles.

After Johnson’s rookie year, an injured knee caused him to miss 45 games during the 1980-81 season. But he came back strong the next season and helped lead Los Angeles to five straight Finals appearances and two NBA titles. 

Johnson won his first MVP in 1986-87 after averaging 23,9 points, 12.2 assists and 6.3 rebounds per game during the regular season. He also won Finals MVP that season after leading the Lakers to a 4-2 series win over the Celtics.

Magic won three more titles from 1988-91 and the MVP award in 1990, but his career was abruptly halted after the 1990-91 season after he was diagnosed with HIV. Johnson missed each of the next four seasons but did return for one final year in 1995-96, when he played 32 games and averaged 14.6 points, 6.9 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game. 

Larry Bird (3)

Known as “The Hick from French Lick,” Larry Bird debuted in the NBA the same season as Johnson, and their careers were inextricably linked for the next decade after meeting in the 1979 NCAA Tournament Finals as members of Indiana State and Michigan State, respectively.

Known as one of the best shooters in NBA history, Bird finished top five in MVP voting in each of his first nine seasons in the league, winning the award three years in a row from 1984-1986. During that three-year stretch, Bird averaged 26.2 points, 10.1 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game while shooting 50.4% from the field.

During Bird’s career, the Celtics made the NBA Finals five times in seven years from 1981-87. They won the championship three times during that span (1981, 1984 and 1986), and Bird won the Finals MVP award in 1984 and 1986.

Bird was also a fairly underrated defender. While he wasn’t the most agile one-on-one defender, his basketball IQ was off the charts and he excelled at help defense. He was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team three times in his career.

Moses Malone (3)

One of the most underrated players in NBA history, Moses Malone played his first two professional seasons in the ABA before the two leagues merged in 1976.

Malone spent his first six seasons in Houston, where he averaged 23.9 points, 14.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game while shooting 51.4% from the floor. He won the MVP award twice during that span in 1979 and 1982, though the Rockets only made the Finals once — when they lost 4-2 to the Celtics in 1981. 

After the 1981-82 season, Malone signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia 76ers, who were coming off a loss to the Lakers in the Finals. During his first year in Philadelphia, Malone won his third and final MVP award while averaging 24.5 points, 15.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game. The 76ers swept the Lakers in the 1983 Finals against the Lakers, and Malone was named Finals MVP for his contributions.

Malone played the next three seasons in Philadelphia and led the league in rebounding on two separate occasions. He was ultimately traded to the Washington Bullets after the 1985-86 seasons as Philly decided to build around Charles Barkley. After two All-Star seasons with the Bullets, Malone made his last All-Star team in 1988 while playing for the Atlanta Hawks.

Malone’s numbers dropped off dramatically after the 1991-92 season, as a herniated disc in his back caused him to miss the majority of 1992-93 season. He closed out his career by playing 17 games for the Spurs in 1994-95 as a backup to David Robinson.

In his 20-year career, Malone averaged 20.3 points and 12.3 rebounds per game. He led the league in boards six times, was a two-time All-Defensive team member and an eight-time All-NBA honoree.

Jeremy Vernon

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Jeremy Vernon is a reporter and editor from Greensboro, North Carolina, with a decade of experience in the industry. His previous stops include MLB.com and two local papers in N.C. — the Monroe Enquirer-Journal and the Chatham News + Record. When he isn’t working, you can likely find Jeremy at the dog park with his two-year old lab mix, Summer.