Right now, Nikola Jokic is the clear frontrunner for the season's NBA Most Valuable Player Award. The Denver Nuggets superstar has arguably been the best player in the NBA throughout the course of the season, and by the looks of it, his effort will be rewarded in the MVP race by the end of the campaign.

If and when Nikola Jokic is officially named as the 2020-21 league MVP, there's no denying that it will be a historic occasion. As a matter of fact, the Serbian big man is currently on pace to become the third consecutive international MVP:

Giannis Antetokounpo, who is currently still part of the current MVP race which involves Nikola Jokic, won the title twice in a row over the past two seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks. The Greek international superstar became one of a handful of all-time great players who were able to win the coveted individual trophy in back-to-back seasons.

As indicated in the tweet above, the last time we had three straight international MVPs was more than a decade ago. Steve Nash, who is a Canadian citizen,  also went back-to-back in 2005 and 2006, with German national and Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki bagging the title the following season.

It could be said that the emergence of international players in today's NBA has reached unprecedented heights. The fact that it's now potentially going to be the third year that we get a non-American MVP speaks volumes of how the game has evolved at an international scale, with Nikola Jokic being a powerful part of this movement. It has truly become a global game, which can only be a good thing for basketball in general.