Nikola Jokić Voted as Starter for 2023 NBA All-Star Game

Nikola Jokić Voted as Starter for 2023 NBA All-Star Game

Nikola Jokić Voted as Starter for 2023 NBA All-Star Game

Jokić named NBA All-Star for fifth consecutive season, starter for third straight year

DENVER, Jan. 26, 2023 – The NBA announced today that Nuggets center Nikola Jokić has been selected as a starter for the 2023 NBA All-Star game on Sunday, Feb. 19 at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City. 

This is Jokić’s fifth straight All-Star selection and third consecutive year being named an All-Star Starter. He joins Alex English and David Thompson as the only Nugget players to be selected to start in consecutive All-Star games and is just the second Nuggets player ever to be selected to five-or-more All-Star games (English).

Jokić, 27, is averaging 25.1 points, 11.0 rebounds, a career-high 9.9 assists and 1.40 steals, while shooting .629 from the field and .378 from three in 33.4 minutes per game this season. The Joker leads the NBA with 15 triple doubles and is on a current streak of recording one in four consecutive games, becoming one of five players in NBA history to have two triple-double streaks of four or more games in their career (Westbrook, Robertson, Chamberlain, Johnson). 

Among the NBA ranks, Jokić is first in PER (Player Efficiency Rating) at 32.4 which would be the highest single season PER in NBA history (surpassing Chamberlain’s 32.1 in 1961-62). The big man also ranks first in +/- (9.1), second in total assists (415), third in assists per game (9.9), eighth in rebounds per game (11.0) and 20th in points per game (25.1). His 9.9 assists per game is currently on pace to surpass Wilt Chamberlain (8.6 apg), for the most assists per game by a center in NBA history. As well, Jokic recently passed Alex English as the Nuggets franchise leader in assists (3696), doing so in 269 less games.

The back-to-back MVP is coming off one of the best months of his career in December, where he averaged 29.2 points, 12.3 rebounds, 10.1 assists and 1.6 steals while shooting .604 from the field in 36.2 minutes. He had four games with 40+ points in the month including two coming with a triple-double. It also marked the second time in his career posting 400+ points, 170+ rebounds and 140+ assists in a month, joining Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook as the only players in NBA history to achieve those numbers for a month multiple times in a career. He was named the Western Conference Player of the Week for games played from Monday December 12th to Sunday December 18th, winning the award for the first time this season and for the 12th time in his career, the most in franchise history. 

The Sombor, Serbia native was selected with the 41st overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. He has appeared in 569 career games (528 starts) over eight seasons with Denver, averaging 20.1 points, 10.4 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.20 steals per game.