Nikola Jokić Went From the 41st Pick to “Now I Have 3 MVPs”
Long before Nikola Jokić became a three-time NBA MVP, his draft slot was part of the joke. That history is what gives “Remember When You Laughed at Me? Now I Have 3 MVPs” its real weight: the punchline changed because the player changed basketball’s expectations of what a 41st pick could become.
Nikola Jokić’s third MVP trophy arrived in May 2024, but the most interesting part of the story had started a decade earlier. Denver selected a Serbian center with the 41st pick of the 2014 NBA Draft, a place on the board where franchises are usually searching for useful rotation players rather than future faces of an era.
By the time Jokić won MVP for the first time in 2021, that old draft position had become part of his mythology. The NBA identified him as the lowest-drafted player ever to win the award, excluding Moses Malone, who was never selected in the NBA Draft. Jokić then won again in 2022. In 2024, he collected a third Michael Jordan Trophy and became only the ninth player in league history with at least three MVP awards.
That is why the wording “Remember When You Laughed at Me?” feels more like retrospective fan storytelling than ordinary trash talk. The design asks viewers to remember the old evaluation first. “Now I Have 3 MVPs” lands only after the distance between pick No. 41 and basketball immortality becomes clear.
Pick No. 41 is what makes the three trophies feel different. Jokić did not merely become great; he made the league’s original estimate of him look almost impossible in retrospect.
The Third MVP Put Jokić in a Nine-Man Club
When the NBA announced Jokić as the 2023–24 MVP, it placed him alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, LeBron James, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Moses Malone as the only players at that point to win at least three regular-season MVP awards.
The numerical achievement is severe enough on its own. Three MVPs means a player was not simply the best story of one season. It means voters repeatedly returned to the same conclusion across different versions of the league.
The Social Moment Was Official, Not Fan-Made
When Jokić’s third award was announced, NBA Communications published the result directly and emphasized the same historical point: he was now the ninth player with at least three MVPs.
That official framing matters because the shirt’s number is not aspirational. “3 MVPs” refers to an already completed achievement. As of 2026, Jokić remains a three-time winner; Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won the award in both 2024–25 and 2025–26.
Why the 41st Pick Still Matters More Than the Trophy Count
Plenty of great players have won multiple MVPs. What makes the Jokić story unusually reusable in fan culture is where it began.
First-round superstars arrive with expectations built around them. The No. 1 pick is supposed to change a franchise. A top-five prospect is evaluated through the possibility of stardom before he ever plays an NBA minute.
The 41st pick receives almost none of that mythology. It belongs deep in the second round, where teams hope to identify a useful skill, developmental project or future contributor.
That gap between expectation and outcome is why an older joke can keep being updated. Every trophy makes the original draft-night skepticism look more extreme.
From “MVP Jokes On You” to “Now I Have 3 MVPs”
Ellie Shirt’s earlier Nikola Jokić “MVP Jokes On You” piece preserved an earlier stage of the same narrative. Its humor depended on the contrast between the 41st pick and the first wave of MVP recognition.
The newer “Remember When You Laughed at Me? Now I Have 3 MVPs” design updates the emotional register. The old graphic said the critics missed. The newer one says the miss has now been repeated by history three different times.
The original concept works like a draft-night reversal: the second-round player becomes MVP, turning the underestimated prospect into the punchline’s winner.
The new version has less surprise and more authority. Three trophies transform an underdog joke into a résumé.
The Front and Back Layout Reads Like Cause and Effect
The strongest element of the newer design is its two-sided structure. A front-and-back graphic can create sequence in a way a single chest print cannot.
The front acts almost like the setup: Jokić as the recognizable central figure. The back carries the complete argument — memory, mockery and the final number. That visual sequencing mirrors how the story itself works. First you recognize the player; then you remember how unlikely this résumé once appeared.
Why the Old Design Still Matters
The earlier “MVP Jokes On You” piece is useful precisely because it now looks like an artifact from a previous chapter. Fan apparel can preserve not only championships and awards, but also the point in time when supporters first realized a player’s story had escaped ordinary expectations.
In 2021, the first MVP made pick No. 41 feel unbelievable. By 2024, three MVPs made the first award look less like an upset and more like the opening chapter of an all-time career.
That evolution is why the two designs belong next to each other editorially. They are not duplicates. They show how the same joke changed as the résumé grew.
Three MVPs Is Still the Correct Historical Number in 2026
One detail is worth keeping precise. Jokić did not win the 2025 or 2026 MVP awards. NBA’s current award history lists Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as the winner in both 2024–25 and 2025–26.
That does not weaken the shirt’s line. It clarifies it. “Now I Have 3 MVPs” describes Jokić’s established career total, not an active 2026 award claim.
More Jokić-related pieces can be found through Ellie Shirt’s Nikola Jokić product search . I have intentionally not inserted a Denver Nuggets collection URL here because a confirmed Ellie Shirt team-collection path was not supplied with this product.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many NBA MVP awards has Nikola Jokić won?
Jokić has won three regular-season NBA MVP awards: 2020–21, 2021–22 and 2023–24.
What pick was Nikola Jokić in the NBA Draft?
Denver selected Jokić with the 41st overall pick in the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft.
Why is the 41st pick important to Jokić’s story?
Second-round picks rarely enter the league with superstar expectations, making Jokić’s rise from No. 41 to three-time MVP one of the most dramatic draft-value stories in NBA history.
What does “Remember When You Laughed at Me? Now I Have 3 MVPs” mean?
The line uses Jokić’s low draft position and early underdog status as the setup, then answers that skepticism with his three MVP trophies.
How does this design connect to the older “MVP Jokes On You” shirt?
Both designs tell the same underdog story at different points in time. The older piece reflects the first MVP-era reversal, while the newer version updates the joke after Jokić accumulated three MVP awards.
The Remember When You Laughed at Me — 3 MVPs design preserves the mature version of Jokić’s underdog story, while the older MVP Jokes On You piece remains an archive of the moment when pick No. 41 first turned the league’s expectations upside down.
Nikola Jokić “Remember When You Laughed at Me? Now I Have 3 MVPs” captures the journey from 41st overall pick to three-time NBA MVP, updating the earlier “MVP Jokes On You” underdog story into an all-time basketball résumé.