Basketball is a global game indeed.
The greatness of Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James made it across the world and inspired millions of aspiring players to chase their dreams.
Years later, the seeds they planted to bear fruit as we saw the past three MVPs came from international players, namely Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks and the newly-hailed MVP, Nikola Jokic, the Denver Nuggets.
Antetokounmpo, from Greece, won back-to-back MVP while also winning the Defensive Player of the Year award last season. Meanwhile, Jokic, a Serbian native, became the lowest draft pick (41st pick) to win the award.
He is also the first legit center to win the MVP since Shaquille O’Neal in 2000.
The game’s evolution has become fantastic, and players are now coming from all sides of the world, making history and making their respective countries proud.
In total, six international players have won the MVP.
The four others were: Hakeem Olajuwon of the Houston Rockets from Nigeria, Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs from the US Virgin Islands, Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns from Canada, and Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks from Germany.
These names could quickly go up in the years to come with the emergence of young stars like Luka Doncic and Ben Simmons.
