Nobody’s ready to make Jokic the face of the NBA
INDIANAPOLIS >> Not 20 seconds had passed since the end of Nikola Jokic’s news conference when the dark curtain behind Luka Doncic’s adjacent media session parted, revealing a 6-foot-11 figure. Jokic snuck up on his unsuspecting friend and poured the remnants of a water bottle down the back of Doncic’s neck.
As the Dallas Mavericks point guard winced and then grinned, Jokic stealthily disappeared again behind the curtain.
In a room of NBA Allstars, there might’ve been something symbolic about the Joker’s prank: the lurking in the shadow of a fellow MVP candidate, the wordless display of personality while other celebrities in the room were holding court, the fade into the background.
Even now that he’s widely considered the best basketball player in the world, even now that he is a defending champion at All-star weekend — the only defending champion at All-star weekend — Jokic is still seemingly overlooked when lined up next to his contemporaries. As usual, he’s OK with that.
“I’m not the face of the NBA, my friend,” Jokic said this weekend when he was asked if he’s trying to embrace that title this season.
What about the commercials alongside Nuggets
teammate Peyton Watson? The new signature shoe deal he signed in December?
“With all the commercials, it’s just part of the job,” Jokic said. “It’s something that goes with being a player or being famous or whatever.”
Jokic, of course, famously resents his fame. But other All-stars apparently agree with his selfassessment about “face of the league” status. One of the most frequently asked and incongruently answered prompts of this weekend in Indianapolis focused on the generational shift in NBA superstardom. Lebron James, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry have a combined 44 All-star selections between them, but they’re all 35 or older.
As much as it speaks to their historical significance that they continue to hold the spotlight in 2024, the more intriguing matter is who will steal it.
“There’s a lot of guys to pick from in this group of 24 that are here,” Curry said. “You see Luka, Ant (Edwards), Shai (Gilgeous-alexander). Guys that are really coming into their prime, and they’re highly decorated already as All-stars and (ALL-NBA) guys, but have a perspective, I guess, of what that means within the on-court, off-court opportunities with the doors that basketball opens.”
James, at 39 still a dean of the sport to the extent that he had his own pregame news conference before Sunday’s game, dodged naming any specific players to succeed him when he decides to retire (whenever that may be).