The Joker deflects the credit despite his historic performance.
"It's for me, to be honest, nothing."
Those are the first words out of Nikola Jokic's mouth after winning the 2023 Earvin "Magic" Johnson Trophy for the Western Conference finals. No, he's not being condescending or smug. Really, in the best moment (yet) of his NBA career, the Joker decided to deflect the credit back to his teammates and coaches.
"This trophy's supposed to go to my teammates and coaches, they put me in the situation that I'm just first among the equals, and I'm happy that we're collectively getting wins."
And win they did.
The Denver Nuggets completed the sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers behind a 113-111 Game 4 win, and advance to a historic first Finals appearance for the franchise.
Jokic did that with another triple double of 30 points, 14 rebounds, and 13 assists. And with that, surpassing Wilt Chamberlain for most triple-doubles in a single postseason run with 8.
Jokic may have missed out on a third MVP award but his team is going to the last dance and he got his first conference finals MVP award. They face either the Miami Heat or the Boston Celtics (probably the Heat unless the Cs make a monumental comeback to become the first NBA team to recover from a 3-0 hole).
(GM)