Nikola Jokic will start the sixth decade of Denver Nuggets All-Star appearances in style Sunday in Atlanta.
Jokic will be the first Nuggets player to start an All-Star Game in 10 years when he takes the court with LeBron James, captain of Team LeBron, Stephen Curry, Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo in Sunday's All-Star Game.
“That’s a pretty good team, I’m not going to lie,” Jokic said following the Nuggets’ final game of the first half of the season.
“It’s going to be fun.”
This year’s All-Star weekend will be a smaller affair than previous seasons due to the coronavirus. The typical weekend with events Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be condensed into one night. There will be just three competitors in the dunk contest. The 3-point shootout is made up exclusively of players selected for the All-Star Game, a change from prior years. The Rising Stars Challenge, a game between the most promising first- and second-year players, won’t be played although teams were selected. Denver had two players, Michael Porter Jr. and Facundo Campazzo, picked to play.
“It’s cool for the honor,” Porter said after Thursday’s win. “Obviously, we’re not playing in the game — which is honestly dope, because I’m trying to go home and see the fam(ily), but it’s an honor and it’s a blessing, for sure.”
While some players around the league publicly said they found the All-Star Game to be an unnecessary risk this season, Jokic wasn’t one of those players.
“It’s really pleasuring and means a lot just to share the floor with the best players in the league,” Jokic said.
“When you get chosen or nominated for anything, I think it’s a big deal because people recognize that you are working, recognize your talent. Mike and Facu, they are doing an amazing job for us.”
Jokic’s participation will not only give fans in his native Serbia a chance to watch the Nuggets' star showcase his skills against the league’s best, he’ll also join Alex English and David Thompson as the only players to represent the Nuggets in three straight All-Star Games.
English and Thompson earned their bids during Denver’s first two decades in the NBA. Here’s a look at the Nuggets’ All-Star participation by decade.
2010s
The 2010s started with Carmelo Anthony being chosen as a starter in 2010-11 All-Star Game, but he was traded to the New York Knicks in the days following.
After Anthony's final selection as a Nugget, Denver went without an All-Star until Jokic’s first selection in 2018-19 season. There was still plenty for Nuggets fans to watch in between.
Back in 2012-13 Kenneth Faried showcased the power and explosion that earned him nickname “The Manimal,” participating in the dunk contest and Rising Stars game. Faried earned a perfect 50 on a dunk that started with a pass to himself off the backboard before he put the ball between his legs and finished with his right hand.
Jusuf Nurkic represented the Nuggets in the Rising Stars game a few years later before he was eventually traded to Portland, clearing the way for Nikola Jokic’s All-Star ascension.
World Team center Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets is introduced during the Rising Stars Challenge as part of the NBA All Star festivities in New Orleans, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Jokic and Emmanuel Mudiay were Rising Stars in 2016 and 2017. Jamal Murray made it a trio of Nuggets in 2017 and returned in his second year, 2018.
Mudiay (2016), Jokic (2017, 2019) and Murray (2018) also represented the Nuggets in four consecutive skills challenges.
Will Barton III is the most recent Nugget to participate in the dunk contest in 2016, opening with a reverse between-the-legs dunk before Orlando’s Aaron Gordon and Zach LaVine, then with the Timberwolves, took over the contest.
2000s
Though Antonio McDyess went down as the Nuggets’ first All-Star of the 21st century, Denver’s decade was led by Carmelo Anthony.
The Nuggets’ third overall pick in the 2003 draft played in the Rising Stars challenge his first two seasons in the NBA and played in three All-Star Games from 2006-07 to 2009-10. Allen Iverson, then a teammate, joined Anthony in 2007 and 2008. Chauncey Billups was the team’s only All-Star the next season and joined Anthony for the 2010 All-Star Game. Billups also participated in the 2010 3-point contest.
West All-Star Carmelo Anthony of the Nuggets goes up for a dunk against East All-Star Dwight Howard of the Magic during the NBA All-Star game Feb. 14, 2010, at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Voshon Lenard represented the Nuggets in consecutive shootouts earlier in the decade and became the franchise’s only winner of the contest in 2004.
Between McDyess’ lone selection in 2001 and Anthony’s penultimate selection, the Nuggets had Nene selected as a Rising Star twice, Earl Boykins participated in the 2004 and 2005 skills challenges, and entertaining dunk contest performances from Chris Andersen and J.R. Smith in 2004 and 2009, respectively.
A series of subpar passes from then-teammate Sonny Weems sunk Smith’s chances, while Andersen gave people a lot to talk about with his spiked hair and an alley-oop off the backboard that saw him get his eyes level with the rim. A year later, Andersen would miss 30-some dunks in Denver, going down in dunk contest infamy.
1990s
Mount Mutombo was the toughest mountain to climb around Denver in the 1990s.
The 7-foot-2 rim protector was Denver’s only All-Star in the last decade of the century, making appearances in 1992, 1995 and 1996. In 1996, his final season as a Nugget, Mutombo averaged 11 points, 11.8 rebounds and a league-best 4.5 blocks.
Denver Nuggets Dikembe Mutombo, left, blocks Los Angeles Lakers Vlade Divac on Friday, Nov. 3, 1995, during the first quarter of the game at the Forum in Inglewood Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
The Nuggets had no shortage of players selected as Rising Stars in the decade: Jalen Rose (1995), Antonio McDyess (1996), Danny Fortson (1998), Bobby Jackson (1998), Raef LaFrentz (2000) and James Posey (2000). Only McDyess would eventually represent Denver in an All-Star Game.
Dale Ellis appeared in the 1997 3-point contest, while Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (1993), Robert Pack (1994) and Darvin Ham (1997) became the first three Nuggets to compete in a dunk contest. Abdul-Rauf, then known as Chris Jackson, reportedly never dunked in an NBA game but did compete in a dunk contest.
1980s
The most dominant All-Star stretch of any Denver Nugget belongs to Alex English in the ‘80s.
Atlanta Hawks' Spud Webb (4) sails up and almost over Denver Nuggets' Alex English (2) as he tries for two points in the first period of their NBA game, March 11, 1986 in Atlanta's Omni. (AP Photo/Joe Holloway, Jr.)
The high-scoring small forward played in eight consecutive All-Star Games from 1982-89. In 1983, English averaged 28.4 points per game, leading the league. The next year, he started the All-Star Game in Denver and finished 6 of 8 from the field with 13 points and two assists. Teammate Kiki VanDeWeghe was second in the league in scoring and joined English at the 1983 and 1984 All-Star Games, scoring 14 points off the bench in Denver the second year. Calvin Natt joined English in 1985 and Fat Lever did the same in 1988 before going solo to the 1990 All-Star Game.
Michael Adams became the first Nugget to participate in the 3-point competition in 1989, the fourth year of the competition.
1970s
The 1976-77 season was the Nuggets’ first in the NBA after nearly a decade in the ABA, and they quickly made a mark, winning division titles in each of the first two years in the NBA.
David Thompson, Dan Issel and Bobby Jones were All-Star selections in the inaugural season. Thompson and Jones went the next season, while George McGinnis, who the Nuggets later traded for English, went with Thompson in 1979.
Denver Nuggets forward David Thompson, left, sets as he eyes the target against the New York Nets, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 1976 in Uniondale, New York. Defending for the Nets are Julius Erving, center, and Rich Jones, waiting for the rebound during first quarter at Nassau Coliseum. (AP Photo/Lennox McLendon)
Unfortunately for Thompson, nicknamed “Skywalker” and known as one of the league’s first premier dunkers, the first NBA dunk contest did not happen for another five years.
Thompson did win All-Star Game MVP in 1979 after leading the West to a 134-129 win with 25 points and five rebounds. He’s the only Nugget to win the honor, giving Jokic something to aim for Sunday and in future seasons.
Did you know?
The Nuggets last hosted the All-Star Game in 2005.
East All-Star LeBron James in introduced before the NBA All-Star Game in Denver, Sunday, Feb. 20, 2005. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Allen Iverson was the Most Valuable Player, scoring 15 points and dishing 10 assists. The next year he was a Nugget. Atlanta’s Josh Smith and Phoenix’s Quentin Richardson won the dunk contest and 3-point shootout, respectively. For one of Smith’s dunks, he jumped over then-Nugget Kenyon Martin and caught a lob in one motion before a windmill finish earned Smith a perfect score.
Atlanta Hawks' Josh Smith sails over Denver Nuggets Kenyon Martin on his way to winning the All-Star slam dunk competition in Denver, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2005. (AP Photo/Matt York)
The only other time the Nuggets hosted the midseason festivities was 1984. There wasn’t a 3-point contest yet. That started with a Larry Bird victory in 1986, but Larry Nance did win the NBA’s first dunk contest at McNichols Sports Arena, beating a field that included Julius Erving, Clyde Drexler, Ralph Sampson, Orlando Woolridge and Dominique Wilkins. Nance beat the bouncy field with a series of cradled dunks, windmills, a leap from just inside the free-throw line and a slam that saw him palm a ball in each hand and dunk both to edge Erving 134-132.
Detroit's Isiah Thomas was the MVP of the first All-Star Game played in Denver.
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