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 previously 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 the big man 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 (SGA) and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks in final voting, marking the third MVP win of his career.
Facing the result, Shaquille O'Neal, TNT host and also a legendary big man in the NBA, told Jokic that he felt SGA deserved it.
"I want to congratulate you. But I want you to hear it from me first - I thought that SGA should have been the MVP, that's no disrespect to you," he said.
Jokic didn't seem to care, but the segment still turned off many viewers. Some argued that Shaq's point was not without merit, but it wasn't the best time to bring it up here.
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