Nuggets’ Nikola Jokić Hailed by NBA Fans as MVP Favorite in Win vs. LeBron, Lakers

Jamie Schwaberow/NBAE via Getty Images

Breaking news: Nikola Jokić is still an extraordinary basketball player.

The defending NBA Finals MVP picked up where he left off, eviscerating the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night in the opening game of the 2023-24 season and leading the Denver Nuggets to a 119-107 win.

Jokić did it all, as usual, posting yet another triple-double (29 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists) in a career full of them.

Jamal Murray (21 points, six assists) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (20) had strong outings for Denver as well, while LeBron James (21 points, eight rebounds, five assists) and Anthony Davis (17 points, eight rebounds, 6-of-17 from the field) couldn’t keep pace with Jokić.

It was the sort of opening-night performance that already had fans crowing the superstar center as the MVP favorite and singing his praises:

There was plenty of anticipation leading into this game, given all the offseason sniping between these teams after Denver swept the Lakers in four games in last season’s Western Conference Finals.

“[The end of last season] is very motivational,” Davis said at the Lakers media day earlier in October. “… I think, me and ‘Bron had some conversations like, ‘We can’t wait.'”

“Anytime you lose, it’s motivation to get ready for the next season to try and compete for a championship so that in itself is motivation but also, all the little talking that’s been going around all summer—we’re ready,” he added.

But saying you’re ready for Jokić and actually dealing with him… well, those are two very different things. In this burgeoning rivalry, chalk up another win for the Serbian center.