Nikola Jokic won’t be the last pick at this year’s NBA All-Star Game
Oct 25, 2023, 4:59 PM | Updated: Oct 26, 2023, 2:25 pm
Nobody picks Nikola Jokic as the two-time NBA MVP kept ending up last in the All-Star game draft done by the captains, we know the story. That won’t happen in Indianapolis in 2024 as the league announced Wednesday that they would be going back to a more traditional format.
The game is slated for Feb. 18 at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse, will feature an Eastern Conference team and a Western Conference team, comprised of 12 players from each conference. Jokic is likely to be a participant representing the Denver Nuggets for a sixth-straight season, his entire time playing in the affair captains were determined by fan voting then picked their teams.
“The theme this year is ‘back to basketball,'” NBA commissioner Adam Silver told reporters Wednesday.
The NBA also nixed the Elam Ending with no clock but a target score to hit.
Each gimmick was fun at first but wore out and last year’s All-Star Game was boring.
The NBA today announced changes to the format for the 2024 NBA All-Star Game, which will be played on Sunday, Feb. 18 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, home of the Indiana Pacers. pic.twitter.com/nhb3A51fC2
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) October 25, 2023
Last winter Jokic basically drafted himself to LeBron James’ team, forcing that he won’t be the last pick.
“I thought I was last, I feel back I thought I was last and I stood up and I didn’t see Lauri Markkanen (picked last by Giannis Antetokounmpo,)” Jokic said at the time. “I would not draft myself, I am not meant for this game.”
The reason Jokic probably thought he was the last pick was because he was second-to-last (No. 7) the two years before. Every year the current NBA Finals MVP seemed to fall down the order, and the league’s best player not getting the respect for a variety of reasons wasn’t a great look fo anyone.
What made last year even stranger for Nuggets fans is the entire coaching staff was “coaching” the team Jokic wasn’t on. Maybe it’ll be sweet for Jamal Murray, who has yet to make an All-Star Game, to appear on the same team in it with his everyday co-star.
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