By George Adamopoulos/ info@eurohoops.net
More than 30 years have passed since Drazen Petrovic and Detlef Schrempf were battling over who would have become the first European to compete in an All-Star Game.
Those were still the times when the existence of a European in the NBA was something sort of a dream. Of course, this has heavily changed, leaving very few top players for their whole careers in the old continent.
The NBA is constantly taking talent from Europe and, at the same time, most favorites for the MVP award are standout Europeans and international players. As we turn the page to a new year, Eurohoops ranked the best European players of 2023 with the majority of them thriving in the NBA and only one name spending the bulk of the season in the EuroLeague before moving to the USA.
Nikola Jokic: The double “crown” of “Joker”
The Serbian center of the Denver Nuggets was named NBA MVP in 2021 and 2022. Although many said he deserved to win it again last year, the award was handed to Joel Embiid. It turned out to be a simple formality… The Joker finished the 2022-23 season with almost a triple-double (24.5 points, 11.8 rebounds, 9.8 assists), but in the playoffs, he left no room for doubt.
He had 30 points, 13.5 rebounds, 9.5 assists. and 46.1% on three-pointers – in the regular season he had 38.3% – and led Denver to its maiden championship in its history. Jokic won the coveted ring and, at the same time, reminded the entire basketball world that right now he is the best player in the globe.
Giannis Antetokounmpo: Career season, but an early exit…
Expectations were clearly high, largely due to his career-high offensive season. The Greek Freak finished 2022-23 with an average of 31.1 points, the top performance of his NBA career while the Milwaukee Bucks had the best record in the NBA. Yet his team was eliminated in the first round by eighth-seeded (and later finalists) Miami Heat. In the aftermath of the series, Giannis made a statement about the real meaning of failure, sparking a debate on the matter.
Antetokounmpo did not compete in the World Cup this summer, he signed a new contract in Milwaukee and, despite the arrival of Damian Lillard, he has not slowed down. In this year’s regular season, he already has 3 0.8 points and 11.5 rebounds per game, with an outstanding 63.9% on two-pointers.
Luka Doncic: No ceiling
Last year, at the age of 24, he registered a career record in the NBA with 32.4 points per game. A number that has already been surpassed this season, with 33.5 points, along with 9.4 assists and 8.5 rebounds with the Mavs! “Luka-Magic” is back in the MVP discussion and much will be determined by how far the Dallas Mavericks will go.
It may be that in the World Cup he didn’t have that kind of international success (like Slovenia’s gold in the 2017 Eurobasket) since Slovenia finished seventh after getting the 4th spot in the 2021 Olympics. Still, he was the top scorer of the event and in the first World Cup, he became one of 11 players to have surpassed 200 points in just one tournament.