Nikola Jokic named All-Star starter for fifth time
Jan 23, 2025, 5:52 PM | Updated: 5:57 pm
To nobody’s surprise, the best season three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic has ever had was rewarded by selection as an All-Star Game starter on Thursday.
It will be Jokic’s fifth straight season starting, and the seventh appearance in the mid-season exhibition.
Jokic is currently a co-favorite to win a fourth MVP and has propelled the Denver Nuggets in recent weeks to a top-four seed in the West. The 29-year-old came into Thursday’s game against Sacramento scoring a career-high 30.1 points, throwing a career-best 9.9 assists and snagging 13.2 rebounds a night to go along with 1.9 steals a contest. Marks that are third, second, third and fourth best in the entire NBA. He easily leads the league with 19 triple-doubles this season.
According to Nuggets PR, Jokic received the most All-Star votes among all Western Conference players.
Alex English and David Thompson were the only Nuggets players before Jokic to be selected to start in consecutive All-Star games and Jokic is already just the second Nuggets player ever to be selected to seven or more All-Star games. English’s eight appearances are still the most by a Nuggets player.
Jokic starts alongside the other dude competing for the MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, as well as Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and LeBron James. Though there’s a new All-Star format for the game(s) in place this year the starters will work a bit differently.
According to the NBA, there will be a mini-tournament with four teams and three games. Two teams will meet in one semifinal (Game 1), and the remaining two teams will meet in the other semifinal (Game 2). The winning teams from Game 1 and Game 2 will advance to face each other in the championship (Game 3). For each game, the winner will be the first team to reach or surpass 40 points. Each team will have eight players and be named for a TNT analyst.
The starters from the East are Jalen Brunson, Donovan Mitchell, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum and Karl-Anthony Towns.
If any other Nuggets are going, which is unlikely, we’ll find out when the rest of the roster is revealed next Thursday, Jan. 30. That group is selected by head coaches and commissioner Adam Silver. The event will take place on Feb. 16 at Chase Center, home of the Golden State Warriors.
