Nikola Jokic excluded some big names from his European starting five.
Nikola Jokic was asked to pick an All-Star starting five of only Europeans during the All-Star weekend, and he made some interesting selections
The starting five has a lot of Eastern European influence, which makes it understandable why some French players, including Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama, weren’t selected by Jokic. However, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s exclusion is an intriguing choice.
“Luka (Doncic), both Bogdanovic (Bojan and Bogdan), (Dario) Saric, and (Nikola) Vucevic,” Jokic said.
After Jokic, in my opinion, Antetokounmpo is the second-best European player in the NBA right now. Giannis is averaging an amazing 30.8 points, 11.2 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game despite the Milwaukee Bucks’ problems this season.
Jokic was put on the spot there and may not have remembered every name, so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. The 29-year-old has never been one to take jabs at people, so it’s likely that he only chose players whom he is closer to, like Atlanta Hawks center Bogdan Bogdanovic, who also plays for the Serbian national team.
Some other notable exclusions here, would be Domantas Sabonis, Kristaps Porzingis, and Lauri Markkanen.
What Would Be The Best European Starting Five?
There are a lot of good Europeans in the NBA right now, so it will be difficult to select the best starting five. However, some players would choose for themselves.
Giannis would play forward, Doncic would play point guard, and Jokic would play center. There are now two spots available, and Sabonis, who averages 20.1 points, 13.2 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game, deserves to be in the starting lineup.
With such stats, I don’t understand how he didn’t make the All-Star squad, but that’s the reality. On the same squad as Jokic, who is averaging 26.1 points and 12.0 rebounds, 8.9 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game this season, Sabonis may be a little unnecessary but, I’d back the two of them to still be quite productive next to each other.
Bogdan Bogdanovic will likely take the final shooting guard position. Given how poor shooters Antetokounmpo and Sabonis are, his ability to shoot from beyond the arc might be rather useful. Bojan Bogdanovic or Markkanen could possibly be added to the starting lineup to create a pretty strong starting five.
Nikola Jokic Was Asked To Share His List Of The Top-Five Players In The NBA Excluding Himself
Though most people agree that Jokic is the best player in the league right now, who would rank in his top five? Michael Porter Jr. asked Jokic to choose his top five NBA players, excluding himself.
“I think I’m gonna say, Joel, Luka, you have to put KD and LeBron there. Even though they are a little bit older I think they can still perform. Steph… and then you have Tatum, [Anthony Edwards], Giannis… I think it’s really impossible to say. Maybe you like some other player more than some like his game but I think it’s really hard to put that top five or even top 10, to be honest.”
Jokic just couldn’t narrow it down in the end. The fact that Antetokounmpo was there, though, shows that the six-time All-Star does have a great deal of respect for him.