The NBA returns from their week-long All-Star Break tonight, and frequent topic of conversation over the course of the last week has been on who The Next Face of the NBA will be. The discourse has been covered on countless sports debate shows, by current and former players, and even NBA commissioner Adam Silver weighed in on the topic, with many folks feeling comfortable enough to offer their own personal picks for who that guy may turn out to be. But perhaps the most illuminating quote on this subject came from the man who has held the title of Face of the NBA for at least the last decade, LeBron James.
“I don't think you just say, ‘OK, well, this guy's the next person,” LeBron James said over the weekend, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN.com. “You have to just let it happen organically and see what happens. But we have some great, great players in this league that can carry anything if they put their minds where they want it.”
Now here's what I find interesting about all of this, and this isn't meant to be a shot at Tim Bontemps or anyone else for that matter: In Bontemps' ESPN piece, eight different players — Luka Doncic, Anthony Edwards, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jayson Tatum, Tyrese Haliburton, Devin Booker, Donovan Mitchell, and Victor Wembanyama — were all mentioned by name, and I'm not going to sit here and dispute the qualifications of any of those guys. But in touting any of those players who aren't quite there yet, what we're doing is going against what LeBron James said should occur. Because what has “happened organically” is that Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic has become the unlikely and undisputed face of the NBA, only nobody is ready to admit it.
Let's start with this: Nikola Jokic is the best player in the NBA, and that's as good of a jumping off point for the Face of the NBA as I can think of. And if we really want to be honest with ourselves, we need to acknowledge that even before Jokic won his first NBA Title last summer, he was already the best basketball player alive.
This shouldn't be a concept that is hard for anyone to comprehend, but it seems like it is. I don't know if it's because Jokic may not have “the bag” that so many players who are more popular than him have, but I promise you that The Joker comes armed with a flash drive that's filled to capacity with post moves and unorthodox passes that 98 percent of the rest of the league couldn't even comprehend. The fact that Jokic is a bonafide basketball genius who defeats his opponents with IQ and unconventional creativity seems to only hurt his cause, probably because the masses don't know how to properly evaluate a guy who wins this way. They say that geniuses are often misunderstood… it turns out that's true even on the hardwood.
But even if simple minds don't have the ability use the eye test to put into context how truly unique and dominant Jokic is and has been, stats and accolades can. Jokic has been either 1st or 2nd Team All-NBA each of the last five seasons. He's the reigning NBA Finals MVP, and he currently ranks in the top twenty all-time in points per game (27.5), rebounds per game (12.1), and assists per game (7.3) in NBA Playoff history. His 120 career triple-doubles are the 4th most in NBA history, and if Jokic wins his third NBA MVP Award this year, he'd join the following players in the Three MVP Club — Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Moses Malone, LeBron James, Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. For the record, those are eight of the top twenty players in NBA history, and seven of the eight of them could've at one point been considered The Face of the NBA.
There are two similarities among all of the players who have been considered The Face of the NBA:
1: Unquestioned greatness, and by that I mean, if you asked any truly unbiased hoops fan, they'd concede “Yes, this is guy is operating on a tier above just about everyone else in the NBA right now.”
2: They brought a different combination of on-court skill and personality to the table than their predecessor did.
A Brief History of “The Face of the NBA”
The NBA was initially defined by the Celtics dynasty in the 1960's, and by the rivalry of Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain. After Russell retired 1969, Chamberlain was already past his prime and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (or Lew Alcindor) was next up. After achieving unparalleled success at UCLA, it was easy to understand why the NBA looked at Jabbar as the heir apparent. There was one big problem though: not only was Kareem wholly uninterested in the spotlight, but the brand of basketball he played wasn't all that aesthetically pleasing even when he was in his prime.
Enter Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Bird and Magic saved professional basketball in the 1980's not only because they were drafted by the two most important and successful franchises in league history, but because they helped to introduce a new era of basketball highlighted by totally unselfish play from the two best players in the world. Michael Jordan arrived in 1984 and became a cultural icon who transcended the NBA thanks to his above-the-rim play, his maniacal competitiveness, and those six championship rings. MJ had a stranglehold on the Face of the NBA title even after he retired in 1998, and some would argue he's never relinquished it. Everyone still wants to ‘Be Like Mike.'
Only briefly did it feel like Shaquille O'Neal had the championship belt in the early 2000's, and from there, it went to Kobe Bryant who wore the crown largely because of his relentless pursuit of the ghost of Michael Jordan. LeBron James was up next and he too spent a great deal of time chasing MJ's ghost. Additionally, LeBron is almost single-handedly responsible for ushering in the Player Empowerment Era. LeBron was succeeded by rival Stephen Curry, who came along launching three's from 30 feet out, revolutionizing the game of basketball in the process.
Now I feel compelled to note that there are many, many great players who missed the cut. Players who won MVP's and NBA Titles and are members of the Basketball Hall of Fame, but never quite reached that tippy-top tier of NBA greatness:
-Julius Erving could've supplanted Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the Face of the NBA in the 1970's had he not been playing in the ABA from 1971 to 1976. By the time Dr. J won his only NBA Title in 1983, he was the second-best player on his own team behind Moses Malone.
-Isiah Thomas and the Bad Boys Detroit Pistons provided direct opposition to the three men who were the faces of the NBA in the late-80s, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.
-Allen Iverson and Charles Barkley never won the title that could've propelled them to that stratosphere, and given the volatile nature of their personalities, I'm not so sure that David Stern was all that psyched about either one of those two stepping into that role.
-Hakeem Olajuwon won two titles, but they both came in the shadow of Michael Jordan's first NBA retirement. Had Olajuwon and the Rockets been able to knock Jordan and the Bulls off in 1994 or 1995, we could be having a different discussion right now, but that's not the way it worked out.
-Tim Duncan won five NBA titles. He's one of the ten best players in NBA history and still criminally underrated by most, but like Kareem, Duncan's brand of basketball was never fully appreciated or critically acclaimed, unless perfect defensive rotations, solid screens, and bank shots tickled your fancy.
-Ironically, Kevin Durant's back to back titles with the Golden State Warriors seemed to only damage the case he had been making as the next Face of the NBA.
Nikola Jokic can change the NBA and the game of basketball
Everyone wants to say that Stephen Curry changed the game of basketball — and most who say that are inevitably pointing the finger of blame at Steph when they say this — so imagine how beautiful the game of basketball would be if more young players were playing like Nikola Jokic? Jokic could single-handedly alter the way the game of basketball is played and discussed, not just in America, but around the entire world.
“I would say the league is in fantastic hands,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said over All-Star weekend. “From the time that Michael retired to now, look at the magnitude of the pool of international players coming into this league. Look at the amount of basketball that's being played on a global basis.”
Wouldn't it make sense that the next face of the NBA would be an internationally-born star during an era that has been dominated by international stars? The last five NBA MVP Awards have been given to players born outside of the United States, and whether it's Jokic, Canadian-born Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (who has the 2nd best odds at most sportsbooks at the moment), “Greek Freak” Giannis Antetokounmpo, or Jokic's Slovenian buddy Luka Doncic, it's looking likely that this run will extend to six years.
The fact that Jokic grew up in Serbia and eagerly returns home to Serbia every offseason shouldn't be a detriment to his case, and his lack of interest in the spotlight shouldn't disqualify him from the conversation. More than just the player's willingness to be the face of the league should determine who that player ends up being. There are plenty of semi-qualified guys around the NBA who would likely gladly step into that role, but the NBA will only suffer if it's not truly the right guy.
And I promise you, Nikola Jokic is the right guy.
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