The Nuggets’ star center is the big winner of the season.

The NBA announced on Tuesday that its Most Valuable Player for the 2020-21 basketball season is none other than Nikola Jokic, center for the Denver Nuggets. This is both the first time Jokic himself has received this honor, as well as the first time in NBA history a Nuggets player has been named MVP.

The 2020-2021 NBA MVP, Nikola Jokic 🔥

First reported by The Athletic and confirmed to ESPN.

🃏 26.4 PPG
🃏 10.8 RPG
🃏 8.3 AST pic.twitter.com/SSNe5YBeEq

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 8, 2021

“To be honest, I didn’t even think about being in the NBA,” Jokic told TNT.

“My goal when I started to play basketball back home was to play in the EuroLeague because that was the closest top league to my country. I could play in some big clubs in Serbia and grind my way up. But then the Denver Nuggets drafted me, and it was an opportunity for me to become an NBA player.”

“It’s a big accomplishment,” Jokic said. “But it’s something that, like I said to the guys, it’s not just me. I couldn’t do it by myself. It’s something that it is an individual award but it’s the effort of everybody who is part of the Denver Nuggets organization.”

Nikola Jokic is the first #KiaMVP to play every regular season game for their team since Kobe Bryant in 2007-08. 💜💛 pic.twitter.com/3wYNCjv6Eh

— NBA History (@NBAHistory) June 9, 2021