Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic are both 26-year-old frontcourt NBA players and the last 2 winners of the MVP trophy. They’ve also recently enjoyed the pleasure of becoming fathers.
Advertisement
With NBA action set to return to basketball fans’ screens in about a week, 2021 NBA MVP Nikola Jokic is currently under the spotlight as he prepares to lead the Denver Nuggets into the new season.
Jokic has had a hell of a 3-year span. He’s led the Nuggets to become the only Western team to be a top-3 seed over these past seasons. He finished 3rd in MVP voting in 2018, and he’s now consolidated his place in the league’s elite with the 2021 medal.
The Nuggets cleared the first round of the playoffs all 3 of these years. They made it to the Conference Finals in the 2020 NBA bubble, where Jokic played the best ball of his life.
Having sealed these on-court achievements at a personal level so early in his career already, Jokic can now also devote time to becoming the family man he envisioned himself being. And a huge step towards that was taken last month, when he became father to Ognjena.
“Natalija Jokic is the best player on our family right now”: 2021 NBA MVP Nikola Jokic
Big Honey entering the paradise of family life can only be a good thing, if other superstars’ examples are anything to go by. Jokic will now be receiving the ‘dad buff’ that practically every big man has benefited from in the recent past.
Nikola seems ready to enter the new NBA season with a refreshed vengeance and resolve to win the championship. He will definitely have his daughter by his side and a doting wife in close attendance when that happens. And in the Serb’s eyes, they’re the most valuable players of his life.
Best thing to come out of Nuggets practice today, Nikola Jokić calling his wife Natalija the MVP.
“She’s the best player in our family right now.” pic.twitter.com/epj7yjFLiD
— Katy Winge (@katywinge) October 11, 2021
The Nuggets suffered from a huge injury setback in April this year when Jamal Murray sustained an ACL tear. This knee injury will keep him out for the major portion of the 2021-22 NBA season.
However, his absence also allows the Nuggets to force-feed the ball to Michael Porter Jr and fast-track MPJ’s development. Porter Jr will be expected to produce at an All-NBA level entering the next season.