Krunoslav Simon: 'Jokic not winning NBA MVP last season is the robbery of the century' / News - Basketnews.com

According to Krunoslav Simon, there's no reason why Nikola Jokic shouldn't have won the NBA MVP award for the third straight year, this time over Joel Embiid.

Credit: AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic; Claudio Grassi/Lapresse via ZUMA Press Credit AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic; Claudio Grassi/Lapresse via ZUMA Press

Nikola Jokic finished the 2022-23 NBA season with the Denver Nuggets with averages of 24.5 points, 11.8 points, 9.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game.

Nikola Jokic

Position:C, PFAge:28Height:208 cmWeight:111 kgBirth place:SerbiaProfileNewsStatistics

The Serbian superstar, who is currently dominating the world's top league, won the MVP award in 2021 and 2022. Although he went on to win his very first NBA title last season, the MVP award went to Joel Embiid. While some argued that Jokic deserved the award for the third time in a row, others thought it was right for the award to go to Embiid.

As a guest of the 'Incubator' podcast, Krunoslav Simon made his feelings about that decision very clear. According to the retired Croatian swingman, the accolade added more pressure on Embiid's shoulders during the playoffs, which resulted in the Philadelphia 76ers being eliminated by the Celtics in the Conference semis.

Simon called the fact that the award went to Embiid instead of Jokic as the "robbery of the century."

"Jokic not being named MVP last season is a complete nonsense, in my opinion. It's pure fraud, the robbery of the century!" the retired player commented.

"This situation seems ridiculous to me. This guy completely dominated the league, but at the end of the day, the award went to Joel Embiid," the two-time EuroLeague champion continued.

"I think what Jokic did was too much for the NBA. When I first saw the news, I said to myself, 'Okay, I will stop following the NBA from now on.' As you can see from his performance in the playoffs, Jokic was very worried when he heard that I would not follow the NBA again," Simon joked.

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