NBA MVP Voting 2021: Complete Breakdown of Winner Selection Process
As I sat watching the 2021 NBA MVP announcement, I couldn't help but reflect on that Tagalog phrase I'd heard from a Filipino basketball analyst: "Ang dami namang beses na dinala na rin tayo niyan sa championship. Nabibitin lang pero may rason ang lahat." It translates roughly to "There were many times he brought us to the championship. We fell short, but everything happens for a reason." This sentiment perfectly captures Nikola Jokic's journey to the 2021 MVP award - a story of consistent excellence finally receiving its due recognition despite previous near-misses.
The voting breakdown revealed just how dominant Jokic's season truly was. He received 91 out of 101 possible first-place votes, finishing with a whopping 971 total points in the voting system. What impressed me most wasn't just his statistical dominance - 26.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per game - but how he carried the Denver Nuggets after Jamal Murray's season-ending ACL injury in April. I've followed MVP races for over fifteen years, and rarely have I seen a player so thoroughly elevate his teammates while maintaining such remarkable individual production. The advanced metrics loved him too - he led the league in Player Efficiency Rating (PER) at 31.3, plus-minus rating, and win shares. These aren't just empty numbers; they represent genuine impact on winning basketball.
What many casual fans might not appreciate is how the voting process actually works. The panel consists of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters from various media markets, plus one fan vote collectively counted as the 101st ballot. Each voter selects their top five choices using a 10-7-5-3-1 point system. This structure prevents runaway victories unless a player is truly exceptional across all voter preferences. Joel Embiid finished second with 586 points and just one first-place vote, while Stephen Curry placed third with 453 points and five first-place votes. The gap between first and second was one of the largest in recent memory, which tells you everything about how the basketball community viewed Jokic's season.
From my perspective covering multiple MVP races, what made Jokic's case particularly compelling was the narrative shift throughout the season. Early on, everyone was talking about Embiid's dominance and Curry's scoring explosions. But as the season progressed, Jokic's consistency and unique skill set as a center who orchestrates offense became impossible to ignore. I remember thinking in March that if Denver could secure a top-three seed in the brutal Western Conference without their second-best player, Jokic would have to win the award. They finished third with 47 wins and 25 losses, exceeding virtually everyone's preseason expectations.
The international flavor of this year's voting also deserves mention. Jokic became the first center to win since Shaquille O'Neal in 2000 and the lowest-drafted player ever to receive the honor (41st pick in 2014). Having watched international players transform the NBA over the past two decades, I find it beautifully fitting that a Serbian big man with unconventional skills has reached the league's pinnacle. It speaks to basketball's global evolution and how the game continues to reinvent itself through diverse talents and backgrounds.
Ultimately, the 2021 MVP selection process got it absolutely right. While other candidates had compelling cases, nobody matched Jokic's combination of statistical production, team success amid adversity, and pure basketball artistry. The voting distribution reflects what those of us who watched every game already knew - this wasn't a particularly close race despite the other phenomenal performances. Jokic's MVP season represents that beautiful basketball truth where exceptional individual talent and team necessity converge to create something truly special. Sometimes the best stories take time to develop, but as that Filipino saying suggests, everything indeed happens for a reason.
