Larry Bird has had a storied tenure in every capacity in the NBA



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Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) looks to pass the ball against Golden State Warriors center Kevon Looney (5) during the first half of an NBA preseason basketball game in San Francisco, Friday, Oct. 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

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Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) drives to the basket against Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, left, and guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope during the second half of an NBA preseason basketball game in San Francisco, Friday, Oct. 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

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San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich looks on during the first half of an NBA preseason basketball game against the Utah Jazz, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

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Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra watches as the team falls behind the Minnesota Timberwolves during the second half of an NBA preseason game Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

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BY TIM REYNOLDS

Published 11:01 AM GMT+1, October 18, 2022

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Nikola Jokic is about to start his chase toward something that hasn’t been done in nearly 40 years.

A player winning back-to-back NBA MVP awards is rare, something that’s happened only 13 times in league history. And having done that last season, Jokic — the cornerstone of the Denver Nuggets — is now trying for something even more unusual: winning it three years in a row.

The only players who have pulled off that feat are Bill Russell (1961, 1962, 1963), Wilt Chamberlain (1966, 1967, 1968) and Larry Bird (1984, 1985, 1986).

The Nuggets aren’t keeping that fact a secret from Jokic.

“No, I challenged him,” said Nuggets coach Michael Malone, who flew to Serbia last summer to surprise Jokic with his second straight award.

Jokic is obviously among the favorites. Until this past season, there had never been a stretch of four consecutive international MVPs in the NBA. Jokic changed that, winning each of the last two awards after Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece) won in 2019 and 2020.

And right now, it would seem almost likely that the MVP streak for non-U.S.-born players goes to five in a row, with Jokic, Antetokounmpo, Dallas’ Luka Doncic (Slovenia) and Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid among the favorites. Embiid was born in Cameroon and holds French and now U.S. citizenship.

FanDuel Sportsbook says Doncic is the favorite, just ahead of Embiid and Antetokounmpo. Jokic is fourth in terms of lowest odds, tied with Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant and just ahead of Memphis’ Ja Morant, Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Golden State’s Stephen Curry.

POP STUFF

San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich has faced 163 different coaches so far in his legendary career. That list should reach at least 166 this season, with him slated to oppose Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham, interim Boston coach Joe Mazzulla and former Spurs assistant Will Hardy — now the coach in Utah — all for the first time.

There have been 322 coaches in NBA history, not including Popovich, who have coached at least 10 games. Popovich, the NBA’s all-time wins leader, has faced more than half of them — 50.3%, or 162.

Popovich turns 74 on Jan. 28, and he’s the oldest active head coach in the NBA.

It’s no secret that Popovich enjoys talking about and, of course, sipping fine wine. But six of the players on San Antonio’s season-opening roster probably won’t have much to say about that topic; Jordan Hall is 20 and the Spurs have five other players — Joshua