World No.1 Novak Djokovic, who is preparing for the blockbuster clash against Rafael Nadal in the French Open, congratulated his compatriot Nikola Jokic for winning the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award. Djokovic wore the jersey of Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic, who this week was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player.

“MVP! MVP! This is for my friend Nikola Jokic, The Joker,” Djokovic said in a video. “Congratulations for your MVP, well deserved. Sending you big regards from Paris, Roland Garros. I’m carrying you today with me in practice and hopefully bringing you luck in the playoffs. All the best, my friend!”

The Nuggets’ big man was revealed as the NBA’s Most Valuable Player for 2020-21, making him by far the lowest draft pick ever to win the award. “The Joker” now has his name etched alongside the greatest players in league history, which surely seemed unlikely when he was that unheralded prospect out of Sombor, Serbia in 2014.

“To be honest, I didn’t even think I would be in the NBA,” Jokic said. “My goal when I started to play basketball back home, it was playing in Euroleague because that was kind of the closest top league to my country.”

He did a little more. Jokic was the runaway winner, getting 91 of the 101 first-place ballots cast — 100 of them from a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters who cover the league, the other being an aggregate first-place ballot compiled from fan voting.