NBA Rumors: MVP Favorite Once Drank A Gallon Of Softdrinks Daily, Couldn't Do Push-Ups

As the 2020-21 NBA regular season winds down, it is becoming clearer that Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is a lock to win the Most Valuable Player plum.

The Serbian big man has astonishing averages of 26.2 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 8.5 assists on 56.8% field goals—all career-highs, which makes him the favorite to take home the top individual distinction.

His Nuggets are third in the Western Conference with a solid 43-21 record and are on pace to be in their best finish since the Carmelo Anthony era.

The way Jokic has dominated and stepped his game to a next level impressed the MVP voting panel.

In fact, according to the latest ESPN straw poll, the 6-foot-11 big is poised to be a runaway winner over All-Stars like Joel Embiid, Damian Lillard, Kawhi Leonard and Chris Paul with 90 of 101 first-place votes.

With Jokic's phenomenal performance throughout the season, it is difficult to believe that he once chugged a gallon of Coca-Cola daily—yes, it's true.

In a detailed interview with ESPN's Rachel Nichols, Jokic revealed how he used to be a sweet tooth and couldn't even perform a single push-up.

"I loved it. I drank the last Coke in my first summer league one day after coming to America. And I remember it," the 41st overall pick of the 2014 NBA Draft recalled.

"When I first started playing basketball in Belgrade [Serbia], I really couldn't do a push-up," he said. "Then I came here, I was probably [of] the worst body, worst strength and condition."

The difference in Jokic's hefty physique years ago to his much fitter and more chiseled body now has not gone unnoticed.

When the NBA resumed last season and entered its Orlando bubble, people were quick to point out that Jokic had slimmed down and looked a lot better.

"He's beach ready. He has abs," Nuggets president Tim Connelly joked back then, per Altitude Sports Radio. "He showed up in great shape. He's sitting there. He sent me a picture. No shirt on. He's got abs. I've never seen him have abs before."

The 26-year-old told Nichols he only wanted a change in his habits as an athlete, not even crossing his mind it would lead to an MVP-caliber season.

"That moment, I didn't even think it was a big thing. I never imagined myself coming here [in the United States]," he said.

"I just wanted to trim something, you know. I wanted to see if I [could] do it, can I really train my body and I lost a lot of pounds. I feel much better."

Jokic bared that he had lost "20 to 25" pounds last summer, and it has pushed him to last longer in games and not feel fatigued.

True enough, he is averaging a career-high 35 minutes per game, the highest in his six-year NBA run.

Not even in the Most Improved Player conversation from previous years, Jokic and his story show that hard work and determination can ultimately lead to bigger achievements in the long run.

"I never think about [winning MVP], to be honest. I didn't [come] here to be the MVP of the league. I always think someone is better than me, and I want to compete to beat him," Jokic closed. "Just by that mentality, I am not going to be an underdog."

Fittingly, the underdog is now a brilliant passing, nightly triple-double threat who has stopped drinking soda and can now do push-ups.