Denver, May 24, 2022 – The NBA announced today that Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić has been named to the KIA All-NBA First Team as voted on by members of the media.
Jokić is the first Nuggets player to earn All-NBA team honors in four straight seasons and now has three career first team selections, passing David Thompson for the most in franchise history.
Jokić, was named the 2021-22 KIA NBA MVP, becoming the 13th player in NBA history to earn back-to-back MVP’s and the first center to do so since Moses Malone in 1982-83. He was the first player in NBA history to average 25+ points, 13+ rebounds and 6+ assists for an entire season. He also became the first player in NBA history to record at least 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 500 assists in a single season. Jokić earned his fourth consecutive All-Star nomination, his second straight year being named an All-Star starter. He was named Western Conference Player of the Month twice (Jan. and March/April) as well as Western Conference Player of the Week twice (Jan. 24 and Apr. 4).
Joker averaged career-highs across the board with 27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds and 7.9 assists in 33.5 minutes per game. He shot a career-high from the field (.583) while adding a career-high 1.47 steals and a career-high .85 blocks per game. He registered NBA season highs with 19 triple-doubles and 66 double-doubles, passing Fat Lever for most triple-doubles in a single season by a Nugget and surpassing his own 60 double-doubles in 2020-21 for most in a season by a Nugget. He led the NBA in PER (Player Efficiency Rating), finished 1st in total rebounds (2nd in rpg), 5th in total points (6th in ppg), 6th in total assists (8th in apg), 10th in total steals (12th in spg), 8th in field goal percentage and 4th in true shooting percentage.
The Sombor, Serbia native also led the league in Win Shares (15.2), Offensive Win Shares (10.8), Box Plus/Minus (13.7), Offensive Box Plus/Minus (9.2) and Value Over Replacement Player (9.8). Additionally, Joker led the Nuggets in total points, rebounds and assists for the fifth consecutive season, becoming the first player in NBA history to accomplish this feat (no one had done this in four straight seasons prior to Nikola last year).
Jokić is the seventh Nugget to be named to an All-NBA team, joining David Thompson, Alex English, Fat Lever, Antonio McDyess, Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony.