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The Serbian Nikola Jokic (Nuggets), the Slovenian Luka Doncic (Mavericks) and the Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder) are the three finalists who will compete for the MVP (Most Valuable Player) award of the NBA season, announced on Sunday the North American basketball league.
Jokic, who already won this prestigious award in 2021 and 2022, averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds and 9.0 assists in this campaign in which his Denver Nuggets defend the title of champions.
Doncic and Gilgeous-Alexander, both 25 years old, are competing for the MVP for the first time. The Slovenian was the NBA’s top scorer with 33.9 points per game and added an average of 9.2 rebounds and 9.8 assists for the Dallas Mavericks who finished in fifth place in the Western Conference.
For his part, Gilgeous-Alexander led the young Oklahoma City Thunder to their surprising first place in the West with an average of 30.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 6.2 assists per night.
The NBA also announced the finalists in six other categories. The French phenomenon Victor Wembanyama (Spurs) not only aspires to the Rookie of the Year award, for which he is the absolute favorite, but also to the Best Defender of the campaign.
In this last category he will compete with his compatriot Rudy Gobert (Timberwolves), a candidate for a fourth award, and with Bam Adebayo (Heat).
The Rookie of the Year competition also includes Chet Holmgren (Thunder) and Brandon Miller (Hornets).
The Most Improved Player award will go to Tyrese Maxey (Sixers), Coby White (Bulls) and Turkey’s Alperen Sengun (Rockets) while the finalists for Best Sixth Man are Malik Monk (Kings), Bobby Portis (Bucks) and Naz Reid (Timberwolves).
Stephen Curry, the Warriors star, will be in competition to be the Clutch Player of the Year, a recognition of the most decisive figures in the end of the game, along with Gilgeous-Alexander and DeMar DeRozan (Bulls).
Mark Daigneault (Thunder), Chris Finch (Timberwolves) and Jamahl Mosley (Magico) were nominated for Coach of the Year.
The award winners, who are chosen by a panel of journalists, will begin to be announced next week.
Source: Elcomercio
I have worked in the news industry for over 10 years. I have a keen interest in sports and have written for many different publications. I am currently working as an author at 24 News Recorder. I cover mostly sports news but also write about other topics such as current affairs and politics. I have a strong interest in social media and how it can be used to engage with audiences.
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