NBA GMs acknowledge Nikola Jokic is clear best player on Earth

Ever since the Denver Nuggets capped off the Miami Heat to win the NBA Finals Nikola Jokic has received his flowers.

Joker was often overlooked in recent years and many scoffed at the notion of winning basketball led by the star center. These takes happened for a variety of reasons from his unique defense, bigger frame or sheer racism. Heck, it even cost Jokic his third-straight MVP last spring ahead of the playoffs. But from summer on it’s been the tour of acknowledgment from those in the game, who don’t have a choice but to call Jokic the best player in the sport leading the top team in hoops.

In NBA.com’s annual GM Survey where league executives responded to 50 questions, last year’s Finals MVP was the star. Jokic not only received the most votes to win this season’s MVP, he topped GM’s list for player they would want start a franchise with, was ranked the top passer in the league and is said to have the best basketball IQ. Jokic also got 93% of the vote for NBA’s best center, up from 79% last season and making him the first player in 11 years (since Dwight Howard in 2013) that a player (or players) received more than 90% of the votes at any position. Giannis Antetokounmpo got 97% of the vote this year at power forward, clearing even that mark of Jokic at center just based on position.

Antetokounmpo finished behind Luka Doncic and Jokic for best international player, was third behind Victor Wembanyama and Jokic for starting a franchise with and the Bucks star trailed only Jokic for MVP favorite. Unlike Joker’s Denver, the Greek Freak Milwakee’s squad are not favorites in the East. The Nuggets got 70% of the vote to win their conference with the Suns picking up 20% of the tallies. The east was split with the Boston Celtics leading at 53% and Milwaukee carrying 43%, of course, these two were just involved in a massive trade that landed Damian Lillard with the Bucks and Jrue Holiday in Beantown.

Voters gave the Nuggets and the Celtics a 33% tally to win it all this season, followed by the Bucks at 23%, Suns at 7% and Clippers at 3%. Both the east teams getting a lot of love were voted as to making the best offseason moves followed by Portland and the Lakers. The reason for that acknowledgment on those two teams is the Lillard-Holiday shakeup, which also came as the most surprising move, according to the GMs. Bruce Brown leaving Denver to go to the Pacers also got votes in this category though maybe it was the cost not the move itself which shocked some.

The Nuggets were only mentioned a few other times outside of Jokic. Michael Malone carried 3% of votes for the best coach, a question where Miami’s Erik Spoelstra dominated as the answer. Malone got 17% of votes for best offense, third behind Sacramento’s Mike Brown. Malone’s assistant got ‘others receiving votes’ for top staffer in the NBA, a category won by former Malone right-hand man Jordi Fernandez. Denver’s only player mentioned outside of Joker was some votes for Aaron Gordon as the NBA’s most versatile defensive player.

NBA.com’s survey is the second one this month which gave Jokic a lot of praise.

***