LeBron James has been dominating the court for nearly two decades. King James is the only player in NBA history to have won three Finals MVPs with three different teams. In his 55 Finals games, LeBron has averaged 28.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 7.8 assists.
Apart from the excellent stats on athleticism, he was also the highest ranked NBA player with basketball IQ as per the 2021-22 General Managers survey. But the king could no longer reign alone in this year’s survey!
In the NBA GM survey, 48 questions regarding the top teams, players, coaches, and offseason moves are posed to the general managers. GMs were not allowed to vote for their own team or personnel. The pool of respondents to that specific question, rather than all 30 GMs, is used for calculating the percentages.
The four times MVP LeBron had outscored everyone with 53% votes for having the best IQ in previous year. Nikola Jokic from Denver Nuggets held the fourth position in the same category with 7% votes. Chris Paul and Luka Doncic held the second and third position respectively with 30% and 10% votes.
But the table has turned significantly in this year census as Jokic claimed the second position with 24% votes followed by James with 45% votes for having the best IQ among the NBA players. Chris Paul, Stephen Curry, Luka Doncic are have also ranked in the following order for the best IQ.
Jokick is a rising star who has won his second straight MVP award last season, averaging 27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game.
James, however, is coming off a season marred by injuries in which the Los Angeles Lakers finished with a 33-49 and even missed the play-in tournament. He did average a remarkable 30.3 points per game on the court. But after only 56 games, he was disqualified from the scoring title.
This 37-year-old veteran star is still prevailing in NBA but the GMs are probably keeping their eyes on the new talents as well. Jokick is showing incredible potential that has made the GMs mark his name next to the all-star LeBron James.
