Nikola Jokic pushes back on MVP talk: 'It's enough, I can't take it' / News - Basketnews.com

Nikola Jokic refused to answer about the NBA MVP race in detail, saying that whoever wins it, the player will be worth it. Jokic added that he expects the Nuggets to pass the first round in the playoffs.

Credit: Screen capture/Glas Amerike Credit Screen capture/Glas Amerike

Nikola Jokic is one of the frontrunners to win the NBA MVP trophy. If he manages to succeed, he'd become the first player since Larry Bird to win the coveted award three times in a row.

Nikola Jokic

MIN:33.93PTS:24.83 (68.89%)REB:11.91As:9.86ST:1.26BL:0.65TO:3.52GM:65ProfileNBA2022/2023

The discourse around the topic has intensified in recent weeks and months with players and coaches publicly announcing their picks. The talk garnered tremendous attention when Kendrick Perkins made some outrageous claims about the MVP race, so much so that the First Take had to issue a correction over his words.

Wednesday's Denver Nuggets game against the Washington Wizards was a Serbian Heritage Night. As such, hundreds of people came in with Serbian flags, traditional dances were showcased before the game.

After the victory against the Wizards, Jokic sat down to talk with Glas Amerike. Asked about the MVP race, the Nuggets center pushed back and didn't want to discuss it in detail.

"It's enough, I can't, really. Third year... I don't really think about it," he said. "I play one game at a time, and that's it. If it's going to be, it's going to be. Whoever wins [the trophy], will deserve to win, that's how it will be for sure."

Talking about the Nuggets' playoff chances, Jokic shared that he expects the team to go past the first round.

"I don't know, my expectation is that we pass the first round, and then we'll see," Jokic told Glas Amerike. "Since we can win in the first round, I don't even know who we're going to face right now. Whether it's Golden State or Minnesota, whether it's the Lakers, Oklahoma, or Utah, I don't really know, but I think when we look at the record with them this year, it's not very fabulous, so... we'll see."

The Nuggets won both games against the Warriors this year while tying the regular season series 2-2 against the Timberwolves and the Lakers. They've won three games against the Thunder in four tries and two out of three games versus the Jazz.

"The goal is to go in order, round by round if there are two rounds or three rounds at all. We certainly have chances, I think we are an interesting team and we have some chances," the Joker concluded.

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