Sports

Nikola Jokic comes in 4th in Associated Press' Male Athlete of the Year voting

December 21, 2023 / 10:41 AM MST / CBS/AP

The Denver Nuggets' NBA Finals MVP didn't win the Associated Press' Male Athlete of the Year award this year, but he came close. Nikola Jokic placed fourth in the voting, which was annouced on Thursday.

Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets reacts after a made basket at Ball Arena last season. Justin Tafoya / Getty Images

A total of 87 votes were cast from a panel of sports media professionals, and baseball star Shohei Ohtani edged Inter Miami's Lionel Messi, tennis great Novak Djokovic and Jokic.

Shohei Ohtani - 20 votes
Lionel Messi - 16
Novak Djokovic - 16
Nikola Jokic - 12

Ohtani won the AP Male Athlete of the Year for the second time. This time it was for his performances both hitting and pitching for the Los Angeles Angels and for Japan's team in the World Baseball Classic. The Los Angeles Dodgers signed him to a record-setting $700 million contract in the offseason.

Last year, Denver signed the Serbian big man to a five-year, $264 million deal to remain in Denver. On Wednesday night Jokic scored 31 points against the Toronto Raptors and has now hit the 30+ points mark against every one of the Nuggets opponents.

Jesse Sarles

Jesse Sarles manages the web content and website operations for CBS Colorado. He writes articles about Colorado news and sports in and around the Denver area.