Nikola Jokic opens up about the prospects of his first All-Star selection

DENVER — Nikola Jokic isn’t one for glitz and glamor. He focuses on team rather than individual success. Jokic is perplexed when reporters ask him about notching a triple-double or scoring 30 points if it comes in a losing effort. But when his team wins, Jokic is a happy camper despite whatever his individual totals look like.

Jokic’s team-oriented mindset is why he’s not preoccupied with the prospects of his first career All-Star selection, which could come as soon as this season.

“I don’t know. I’m just thinking about games, just to win more games,” Jokic said when asked about what it would mean to be an All-Star. “To be an All-Star? I mean, it’s a really big thing, especially because I never dreamed about it, wasn’t even thinking about it.”

All-Star game starters are selected through a voting process that involves fans, current players and media members. Fans make up 50 percent of the vote and players and media are each responsible for 25 percent. NBA head coaches vote for the reserves for their respective conferences, none of which can be from their own team. Coaches select two guards, three frontcourt players and two wild cards.

This was last year’s Western Conference roster.

In his fourth season, Jokic faces stiff competition for an All-Star bid. Four of the frontcourt players selected to last year’s team — Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, Draymond Green and DeMarcus Cousins — will surely be back this year in some capacity.

Kawhi Leonard — who’s only played six games this season — may be in danger of missing this year’s squad and Western Conference newcomer Jimmy Butler could slide into his starting spot. LaMarcus Aldridge has been the best player on the third-seeded San Antonio Spurs and is on track to receive his sixth-career All-Star bid. Warriors guard Klay Thompson will likely be back as well.

Chris Paul, who helped spearhead All-Star game reform this summer, didn’t make the team last year but will get heavy consideration in 2018 because of the Rockets’ hot start. His numbers will also climb over the next couple of weeks with James Harden out of the lineup due to a hamstring strain. The Timberwolves’ impressive start means Karl-Anthony Towns could garner his first career selection this season but Marc Gasol faces an uphill climb to make the team with how poor Memphis has played.

That leaves just two wildcard spots for a pool of candidates that include Paul George, DeAndre Jordan, Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum, Paul, Towns, and Jokic.

A couple big-time scoring outings over the next few weeks will help Jokic’s cause. His stat line, which reads 16.3 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game, looks nearly identical to the numbers he posted a year ago except his field goal percentage has dropped off (from 57.8 to 50.4 percent) while his three-point percentage has spiked (32.4 to 36.4 percent). Jokic did up his scoring average from 14.6 to 18.4 points per game in December with Paul Millsap out of the lineup.

But the Nuggets’ record at the time when votes are cast will be what decides Jokic’s fate for the Feb. 18 exhibition in Los Angeles. Denver is currently 19-17, good for sixth-place in the Western Conference and a string of wins in January — where Denver plays 10 games at home to just five on the road — will push a couple undecided voters in Jokic’s direction.

“Winning teams get rewarded, right,” Will Barton said when asked for his take on Jokic’s All-Star candidacy.

“He’s that talented. What he does for our team, scoring, rebounding, assisting even picking it up on defense. He’s an All-Star caliber player,” Barton added. “Whether it happens, I don’t know. For us to have a lot of losing years and now be in the position we’re in right now and he’s been the anchor of that. You tell me.”

“Will they let him be an All-Star? Who knows. I feel like he’s an All-star level talent. He’s an All-Star level player.”

Even if his raw stats don’t show it, Jokic is an improved player from a year ago. He’s made strides as a defender and a scorer but according to his teammates, Jokic’s most noticeable development from last year to this year are the steps he’s taken as a leader.

“He’s been in the huddles and he’s really like ‘let’s go. We got to do this and we got to do that,'” Barton said. “When he first got in the league and even last year he was quieter and took more of a laid back role and let his play do the talking. Now, he knows he’s the guy, and we feed off him so he knows he has to be a leader and I feel like he’s embracing it.”

“He’s still the same person but you can tell he’s been more vocal,” Gary Harris noted.

The odds are stacked against Jokic in his bid for the All-Star game. He’s every bit the talent that George, Jordan, Lillard, McCollum, Paul and Towns are and could have a case as the best player of the bunch. But he doesn’t have as much clout as those other stars do across the league. The Nuggets will certainly push his candidacy hard over the next two months.

He’s deserving of the honor and deep down you get the feeling that an All-Star selection would mean a lot for Jokic, his family and his native Serbia. However, if Jokic falls short he won’t lose a minute of sleep over the slight.

“If it happens in the future, I think it would be really great. If not, then…” Jokic’s voice trailed off as he shrugged and waited for another question from reporters.

A spot on the team would be a significant milestone for an organization that hasn’t had an All-Star since Carmelo Anthony in 2011. A selection would also mean a lot to Nuggets coach Michael Malone who’s watched over Jokic since he entered the league in 2015 as a relatively unknown second-round draft pick.

The honor would cement Jokic as one of the league’s stars even if he’s already recognized that way in some NBA circles.

“Personally, I thought he was an All-Star last year,” Malone said. “From Dec. 15 on you look at the numbers he was putting up. I don’t know if anybody in the rest of the NBA put up the numbers he was putting up. Obviously, I’m biased. I’ll admit that. But I thought he could have been an All-Star last year and I think he’s an All-Star this year.

“For us to play the way we’ve been playing without a guy like Paul Millsap. I mean we gave that guy $30 million for a reason and we’ve been able to weather the storm. Well, how do you do that? Nikola Jokic steps up. Scoring, rebounding, playmaking, defense. It’s not just him. Obviously, everybody else has also stepped up so we could weather the storm that we’ve had without Paul. But I think Nikola Jokic is one of the best big men in the NBA and is more than deserving of being an All-Star.”