FC Barcelona superstar Nikola Mirotic continued his impressive performances this season and won the EuroLeague MVP award for December.
Sustaining simultaneous individual and team success is so difficult in the EuroLeague that only three players have ever been chosen as the MVP of the Month twice in the same season.
Now, as Euroleague Basketball’s choice for MVP of December, do-it-all forward Nikola Mirotic of FC Barcelona becomes the earliest such double-honoree in any single season, following on his claiming the same award in October.
The final month of 2021 loomed as a major test for the league leaders, especially after two veteran starters were injured long-term, but Mirotic helped Barcelona pass with flying colors as the only EuroLeague team to register five victories in December.
To make that happen, Nikola Mirotic led all EuroLeague players in both average performance index rating and scoring for the month as Barca aced one crucial showdown after another, including back-to-back dates with its legendary archrival and its victimizer in last season’s championship game. Mirotic was his team’s go-to star every step of the way.
If Barca had to share first place when December started, Mirotic made sure that his team now occupies an exclusive perch at the top of the standings to start the new year.
At month’s end, Nikola Mirotic had averaged 21.0 points a game with excellent shooting – 61.8% on two-pointers, 50.0% on threes and 93.8% on free throws – to go with 6.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists for a PIR of 25.3 per game.
