ESPN’s Zach Lowe shared his two cents on who will eventually reign as the best European basketball player of all time. Will it be Nikola Jokić? Luka Dončić? Or maybe it’s Giannis Antetokounmpo’s title to claim.
ESPN Panelist Breaks Down Best Future European Player Debate
And the Best Future European Player Goes To…
Who will become the eventual greatest European player ever to represent overseas in the NBA? ESPN sportswriter Zach Lowe has a couple of solid suggestions. Lowe and company continued discussing who would go down as the best European player ever during a segment on NBA Today.
In the aftermath of Vlade Divac’s comments regarding Luka Dončić and Nikola Jokić recently, the NBA analyst panel went on about the subject further today. Aside from Jokić and Dončić, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Victor Wembanyama’s names also made it into the stirring pot. Lowe, however, seems ten-toes down on the former two European stars who represent Serbia and Slovenia, referencing their current accolades.
“Look, Jokić has three MVPs, a championship, and a finals MVP, and statistically he’s going to be in the stratosphere where like its LeBron [James] and him if he stays healthy,” Lowe goes on to say of Dončić, “Luka’s gonna be in that same statistical stratosphere and TBD on him and how much he wins…”
This particular conversation was featured in the “Summer Superlatives” segment on NBA Today.
Four in the Mix
Lowe is right on cue here as it relates to the two superstars in question. Jokić has the upper hand on Dončić regarding NBA championships and multiple MVPs. Luka has yet to reach those milestones, and his future trophy case is yet to be determined. While Giannis has thus far put forth a pretty spectacular career, many would not place him above Jokić. Each European player has implanted league dominance in their own way, yet Jokić’s dominance hits a different note on the basketball court.
Setting aside these three players for the moment, Lowe’s panelist counterpart, David Dennis Jr., didn’t shy away from including French sensation Victor Wembanyama in the conversation.
“…we’re gonna be talking about Wemby as maybe the greatest of all time…” Dennis Jr. stated.
Lowe responded by requesting everyone to calm down. Wemby surely has the potential to be the best European player ever, but Lowe is right. No one knows what’s in store for Wemby down the road. After all, he’s only entering his second NBA season, and the San Antonio Spurs are not a good team. Wembanyama needs to accumulate a lot of what Jokić has, and more, if his name is to be considered as Europe’s best.
International Talent at its Best
These hypotheticals are fun to enjoy and debate back and forth on. However, each aforementioned European player is still playing the game of basketball at an elite level. Giannas and Jokić are still in play to win a second title. Dončić will win an MVP at some point, if not multiple, not to mention a championship ring for himself. As for Wembanyama, he’s just getting started.
Who knows where this hot-topic conversation will take us? As of right now, where it stands in the NBA, Nikola Jokić holds all the cards and stands at the top of the mountain. It’ll be up to the others to climb on up and tip him over.
