NBA.com names Nuggets' Nikola Jokic top player in the West

The NBA season is creeping up with just over two months before the start of the regular season. This being said, rankings of teams and players are starting to come out.

Shaun Powell of NBA.com was able to make a list of the top players in the Western Conference on Wednesday, and the Denver Nuggets' Nikola Jokic topped the list, coming in at the No. 1 spot in front of top players like 2024-25 MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, Luka Doncic, and more.

Jokic, 30, is widely known as one of the best – if not the best – basketball players on the planet. Although he lost the MVP race to the Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic has won the Most Valuable Player award in three out of four years in 2021, 2022, and 2024.

The Nuggets' franchise superstar just turned 30 in February, and he's shown no signs of slowing down. In the 2024-25 season, Jokic averaged a triple-double with 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 10.2 assists while shooting 57.6% from the field and 41.7% from beyond the three-point line.

"Not only is he the best player in basketball, but he’s having one of the all-time runs in basketball history...  His triple-double capability on a nightly basis and franchise-carrying shoulders that still endure are evidence of No. 1 greatness," Shaun Powell wrote in his NBA.com article.

After getting eliminated by the championship-winning Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2025 NBA Playoffs, Jokic and the Nuggets will look to capture their second championship title next season.