Nikola Jokic defends Joel Embiid’s MVP win this season, praising his ‘extremely tough basketball’

Although Monday night was a night of celebration for Nikola Jokic, he still jumped at the chance to praise one of his peers after beating the Lakers and clinching a spot in the NBA Finals.

Jokic was named MVP of the Western Conference Finals after averaging 27.8 points, 14.5 rebounds and 11.8 assists for his Denver Nuggets.

But it was fellow big man Joel Embiid who took home that regular season accolade, as a hotly debated race ended with ‘the Joker’ missing out on a third consecutive MVP crown.

For Embiid, it was the first of his career, and one that Jokic says is well deserved.

“I don’t think about MVPs anymore,” the Serbian center said Monday evening.

“People are just mean when they say Embiid shouldn’t have won. I think he should have won. I think he played extremely, extremely tough basketball all season… He was really great in 82 games or how many games he played.”

Embiid had a great year indeed as he led the league with a record high of 33.1 points per game going along with 10.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists.

The 29-year-old led the Sixers to 54 wins and the No. 3 seed in the East, but things didn’t go as the franchise had hoped in the postseason.

Jokic was awarded the MVP of the Western Conference Finals after beating the Lakers

Embiid lost in the second round and was delayed by a knee injury sustained in the playoffs

After beating the Nets in the first round, the Sixers lost to the Celtics in seven games after leading the series 3–2—a third second-round exit in three years.

And Embiid was hampered by an LCL sprain in his right knee that forced him to miss two games this postseason, scoring only 23.7 points per game.

Jokic, meanwhile, has already helped the Nuggets make franchise history by reaching the team’s first NBA Finals.

Denver takes on the Celtics of Heat, with Miami highly likely to advance after a shocking 3-0 series lead.