Jokic in conversation for greatest center

History books will show the Denver Nuggets are the 2023 NBA champions. Let there be no doubt about that.

But what about the Nuggets’ Rocky Mountain-sized center, Nikola Jokic? What will his place be on the all-time list of great centers?

Still just 28, the 6-foot-11, 284-pound native Serbian has many years — perhaps even another decade — to further polish his résumé.

Already he has two MVP Awards, an MVP runner-up (this season to Joel Embiid) and his first NBA crown, although more could follow.

“The Joker” is coming off a scintillating season in which he averaged 24.5 points, 11.9 rebounds and 9.8 assists. In so doing, he coined the name of a new position — “point center” — for his sleight-of-hand passing on the perimeter.

But comparing the former second round draft choice to the legends is dicey at best.

For starters, the statistics accompanying this article are mostly about offense. Jokic is not a great leaper and not considered a fearsome shot blocker. Still, his bulk makes him hard to get around.

It’s hard making generational comparisons. Blocked shots weren’t even kept during the George Mikan, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell years, and the 3-point shot wasn’t added by the NBA until 1979. The game has evolved. Jokic is as much a threat from a distance (38.3 percent) as he is from close in.

So, who deserves to be called the top big man of all time?

Mikan was considered “the first big man,” when he came out of DePaul at 6-foot-10 and overwhelmed the league with the Minneapolis (later Los Angels) Lakers.

Russell won the most titles, by far, but in a much smaller league (just eight teams in 1960) and while surrounded by other Hall of Fame Celtics.

Chamberlain was truly a colossus at a muscular 7-foot-1, averaging 50 points per game in 1962.

Then there was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who dominated the college game at UCLA (under the name Lew Alcindor)