On Sunday afternoon, the NBA All-Star game will take place, with Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic among the starters for the event. Jokic will be a member of the “world” team, which features several star international players, who will be competing against stars who are from the United States.
In that spirit, Jokic recently revealed his Mount Rushmore of international players in NBA history, per David Mendes-Yapkowitz of ClutchPoints: Dirk Nowitzki, Manu Ginobli, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Tony Parker
Jokic also listed Pau Gasol as a possible candidate.
The Nuggets star selflessly declined to name himself on his Mount Rushmore, but he would certainly make the cut on just about everyone else's list, considering that he's already brought home three MVP's and an NBA Finals win to the Denver fans.
These days, the NBA has gone more global than ever, with many viewing the World team at All-Star weekend as the clear-cut favorites to win the event.
Jokic will be teammates with players like Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama, and Los Angeles Lakers MVP candidate Luka Doncic, among other talented international players, for the event. Those players, along with Antetokounmpo, are widely viewed as the best five players in the league today, and the fact that all of them hail from outside the United States shows just how far the game has expanded in recent years.
One of the big talking points heading into this year's All-Star game is whether or not the players will give better effort than they have in previous years, with many accusing them of shortchanging the fans in attendance by playing well below their capacity.
Jokic might not be the one to solve this problem, considering his output in years past, but the league will hope that the USA vs World format will be enough to motivate the players to put forth some energy.
