Has there ever been a player to lose NBA Finals and win Finals MVP?

Nikola Jokic may have missed out on his third straight MVP award this year, but it’s almost guaranteed that he will be the Finals MVP once the series is over. The Denver Nuggets are a win away from their first title in franchise history, but even if they somehow blow their 3-1 lead it would take a lot to strip the Serbians of the Finals MVP.

Jokic brushes off individual records

Jokic is a guy who puts his team first, and really doesn’t care about individual accolades. You can see that in most of his post game interviews whenever he has broken one of the many records, or joined one of the illustrious lists that he has joined in this. Take it as humility or take it as a blatant disregard for his own records, but he repeatedly shrugs off questions about his individual accomplishments.

He and the Nuggets will only be focused on winning Game 5 back in Denver on Monday night, as the Mile High City awaits their first NBA title in franchise history. If the Nuggets end up winning, then Jokic will without question be the one lifting the Bill Russell Trophy as the Finals MVP. Even if they somehow lose the next three games, it would take a whole lot to take the trophy out of the arms of the Joker.

Joker turns it up in playoffs

He nearly averaged a triple double in the regular season, coming just 0.2 assists short of doing something that only Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook have done in the history of the league. Since the end of the regular season, and losing out on the MVP award to Joel Embiid, he has averaged 30 points, 13 rebounds and 9.8 assists which is almost six points and two rebounds more than he did in the regular season.

With numbers like that he is practically a shoe in for the MVP of the NBA Finals, even if the Nuggets lose, which seems unlikely after two wins in Miami. It is not written anywhere that a player from the losing team can not win the MVP of the Finals, but it almost never happens. The first and last time it happened was the first year the award was given out back in 1969 when Jerry West was awarded the trophy despite being a part of the losing team.

West and the Los Angeles Lakers met the Boston Celtics in an epic seven game series. Each of the home teams took care of business for the first six games but LA lost game 7 by two points. Despite the heartbreak, West was named MVP of the Finals after averaging almost 38 points a game.

Since then there hasn’t been an MVP named from a losing team in the Finals, and Jokic is not trying to become the first one in over five decades. He and the Nuggets have a chance to take care of business in Game 5 on Monday night from Ball Arena.