"When I'm old, fat and grumpy... I'm going to tell my kids back in the day I was really good playing basketball" - Nikola Jokic opens up on his MVP win, pokes fun at Shaquille O'Neal for lack of MVP awards

Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets has been named the 2021-22 Kia NBA MVP, winning it over two other worthy finalists in Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Serbian superstar arrived in style at his sprawling ranch to be greeted by his family, relatives and close friends before accepting the award.

Ernie Johnson, who co-hosts the NBA on TNT show with Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley, congratulated the back-to-back MVP. Jokic is all bout team success, so EJ had to ask him what the biggest NBA individual award meant to him.

Before answering the question, Jokic took a subtle jab at Shaquille O'Neal, asking the co-host if Shaq had ever won the award in consecutive seasons. After admitting that he was only needling Shaq, Jokic gave a heartwarming reply:

“I don’t think about it now, but when I’m old, fat and grumpy, hopefully, I’m gonna remember and I’m going to tell my kids back in the day I was really good playing basketball.”

Jokic added:

“Everybody knows that I’m the same guy. Hopefully, I’m gonna stay the same after this. Just to be in that company with Wilt and the older guys who made history in this league and in this sports. Just that tells a lot, it means a lot.”

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As Ernie Johnson pointed out, Nikola Jokic is only the fifth center in NBA history to win back-to-back MVPs. He joined the illustrious and elusive group of Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (twice) and Moses Malone.

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Jokic’s two straight MVP seasons put him in revered company, becoming only the 15th player to win at least two best player of the year awards. He becomes the newest member of a group that has LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson as stakeholders.

Nikola Jokic won the MVP over Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo after receiving a majority of the first-place votes

Nikola Jokic won the NBA MVP over Joel Embiid. [Photo: NBA.com]

The “Joker” grabbed another MVP plum by nailing most of the first-place votes. He had 65 to Joel Embiid’s 26 and Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 9. First-place votes are worth 10 points, which pushed Jokic to get the recognition by 169 points over Embiid.

Voters fell in love with Nikola Jokic’s dominance when it came to advanced metrics. Unfair or not, it was the biggest factor that influenced voters to go for Jokic over the rest of the candidates. The Denver Nuggets superstar’s traditional numbers aren’t bad, either, which only strengthened his case.

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Jokic averaged 27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds, 7.9 assists and 1.5 steals. He carried the Nuggets into the postseason without Jamal Murray, with only a few games coming from Michael Porter Jr.