MIES (Switzerland) - Numerous players enhanced their reputations with outstanding displays in international basketball last summer to elevate themselves into contention for the ESPN Golden Basketball award.
Though the honor is an imaginary Golden Basketball, it's nevertheless a nice recognition to be singled out as the NBA player that had the best performance across all competitions in 2024.
USA Olympic gold medalists LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Anthony Edwards, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant and Jason Tatum were all named as honorable mention, as were Jaylen Brown and Jalen Brunson. Brown, the NBA Finals MVP of Boston, and All-NBA Second Team guard Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks, played for the USA before but not in 2024.
FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament Piraeus MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo of Greece, Canada's national team star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Slovenia hoops icon Luka Doncic and Serbia's basketball king, Nikola Jokic, were finalists.
The winner?
For the second straight year, it was Jokic.
The Denver Nuggets talisman won his third NBA MVP award in 2024 and then put Serbia on his back and carried it to the bronze medal in Paris. In sensational fashion, Jokic rescued his national team in a 95-90 triumph over Australia after overtime in the Quarter-Finals. His team trailed by 24 in that game but stormed back. Jokic made big plays at key moments and finished with 21 points, 14 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks.
In the Semi-Finals, Jokic spearheaded Serbia's upset bid against the four-time defending champions USA, with 17 points, 11 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block. The Europeans opened up a 17-point lead in the first half and were still up 76-63 at the end of the third quarter, yet Curry saved the Americans with 36 points in the game. USA won 95-91 with Curry connecting on 9 of 14 shots from deep.
Jokic then led Serbia to the podium with 19 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists, 1 steal and 1 block in a 92-83 win over Germany in the Bronze Medal Game.
LA Laker and Olympic MVP James, Golden State star Curry and Phoenix Suns ace Durant had a dream summer with the USA yet none won first round playoff series in the NBA in 2024, which hurt their chances.
As for the other finalists, Antetokounmpo, in addition to his OQT MVP award, was the leading scorer at the Olympics (Greece fell in the Quarter-Finals to Germany). He then at the end of the year was named MVP of the NBA Cup after leading Milwaukee past Gilgeous-Alexander's Oklahoma City.
Gilgeous-Alexander was runner-up in the NBA MVP voting and might have had a chance to scoop the honor had Canada reached the Olympic podium but after three straight wins, they fell to France in the Quarter-Finals.
Doncic fired the Dallas Mavericks into the NBA Finals and challenged Jokic for the NBA's MVP award but after setting the Olympics alight in Tokyo three years before, he missed out on France.
Doncic did represent Slovenia at the OQT Piraeus and the team fell to Antetokounmpo's Greece in the Semi-Finals.
FIBA