By finishing second in this year’s Kia NBA MVP balloting behind only Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokić became just the third player in NBA history with a top-two finish in five or more consecutive seasons. He won the award in 2021, 2023 and 2024, plus was second in 2022 and again this year.

During NBA playoff pregame coverage in Oklahoma City, Malone clarified, if he had a MVP vote, he would have voted for Jokić over eventual MVP winner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Michael Malone has become a polarizing presence in Denver. On the one hand, he was the head coach of the first Nuggets team to ever win the NBA championship. On the other, he was fired with just weeks remaining in the regular season with no shortage of drama swirling around the franchise.