Following several months of hotly contested debates, this year’s NBA Most Valuable Player race turned out to be a landslide.

Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets was named this year’s NBA MVP in what was a landslide win, garnering 79 out of a possible 99 first place votes. He finished ahead of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (15 first place votes), Luka Doncic (4), and Giannis Antetokounmpo (1).

Jokic appeared in 79 games during the regular season, averaging 26.4 points on 58.3% field goal shooting, 1.1 three-pointers, 12.4 rebounds, nine assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.9 blocks. He tallied 25 triple doubles, just one behind league-leader Domantas Sabonis. He led the NBA in several advanced metrics including PER, Win Shares, Box Plus/Minus, and VORP.

The efforts of the 29-year-old Jokic, also the reigning NBA Finals Most Valuable Player, helped the defending champion Nuggets finish the regular season with a 57-25 win-loss record that was tied for the best in the Western Conference and second in the league this year.

Now that he is a three-time NBA MVP winner after winning this prestigious award in 2021 and 2022 as well, Jokic joins an elite group of only nine players who have been able to achieve this feat.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar remains the all-time leader with six NBA MVPs, Michael Jordan is in second place with five, and LeBron James and Bill Russell are tied for third with four each. Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, Moses Malone, and now Jokic are the players who have won three.

What makes Jokic’s achievement even more special though is that he is the only international player and second round pick on this list. Back in 2014, Denver drafted him 41st overall in what can be considered the greatest draft pick in league history.

Jokic could have actually won his third NBA MVP last season, but he lost out to Joel Embiid in what many tagged as a case of voter fatigue.

Moving forward, it is highly likely that this is not the last time that Jokic is named the NBA MVP. He could realistically wind up challenging Abdul-Jabbar for the record over these next few years if he continues playing at this level. His style of play, which relies heavily on his basketball IQ more than anything else, should age well and allow him to remain dominant well into his 30s.

There is still a long way to go in the Jokic era, yet it is definitely not too soon to appreciate this all-time player who is re-writing the record books and earning himself a place among the best to have ever played the game.