The people's choice: Nikola Jokić
Who is regarded as the Best Player on the Planet entering the 2023-24 NBA season? According to readers of The Stein Line who voted, it's the Nuggets' superstar ... with a (relative) surprise at No. 2
After three days of polling and more than 1,100 responses, The Stein Line is pleased to (not so) officially bestow Best Player on the Planet status upon Denver’s Nikola Jokić.
It took some creative polling, since Substack’s functionality (as you saw if you voted) only allows for five menu options per poll, but you (yes, YOU) have ranked the NBA’s top nine players based on the nominees I selected … all of whom happened to be pictured in this season preview illustration that the NBA published recently.
The results:
Nikola Jokić (Denver) 497 votes
Stephen Curry (Golden State) 197 votes
Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee) 132 votes
Luka Dončić (Dallas) 85 votes
Kevin Durant (Phoenix) 50 votes
LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers) 50 votes
Other 47 votes
Jayson Tatum (Boston) 36 votes
Joel Embiid (Philadelphia) 23 votes
Jimmy Butler (Miami) 21 votes
To make this polling work based on the limitations of the functionality available, I created two polls in the aforementioned story. The first listed the NBA’s four foremost stars from Europe and Africa (Antetokounmpo, Dončić, Embiid and Jokić) and provided an option for OTHER in case my nine nominees did not include your preferred choice. The accompanying poll listed five American-born contenders: Butler, Curry, Durant, James and Tatum.
Not sure I expected Curry, who turns 36 in March, to finish above Giannis and Luka at this stage of his career. KD (who turned 35 in September) and LeBron (who turns 39 in December) essentially tied for fifth. The votes total had to be ever-so-slightly approximated given the percentages involved below; rounding up resulted in six more votes in the final standings than the official total of 1,132 votes registered.
Thoughts?
Let me know in the comments section.
I'm assuming Steph's total was aided by some people voting twice (I know you gave clear instructions not to Marc, but...). Jokic was my vote, and Giannis would have been a close second for me, but I was still surprised at the reigning MVP's low total.
Not surprised by result. I voted butler. Anyone who takes his team to finals with that roster and has done what he has with that roster is superior. His all around game and intangibles are under appreciated