Nikola Jokic’s 55-Point Masterpiece Shows How Deep the NBA’s International Era Runs
By Muhammad Arslan Saleem November 18, 2025 04:43
A 55-Point Night That Felt Weirdly Normal
On paper, Jokic’s line is outrageous. 55 points, 12 boards, six dimes, and just five missed shots all night. He poured in 25 points in the first quarter alone, a career-best for any period. Best of all, he never really looked rushed. This was a superstar calmly dismantling coverages, one pick-and-roll read at a time. (source: https://www.esports.net/betting/sites/).
Context matters here. Jokic already owns three MVP trophies (2021, 2022, 2024) and finished runner-up in 2025 because of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s historic campaign denying him the fourth. He’s become one of the very few second-round picks ever to win the award. Not only that, he’s the only center since Shaquille O’Neal to control so much of his team’s offense from every spot on the floor.
So when he drops 55 on the road, it feels like a reminder that Denver still has, at worst, one of the three best players alive. In other words, the gap between Jokic’s “average” day and other stars’ ceiling games is still huge.
The Numbers Behind the NBA’s International Takeover
Jokic’s 55 is another bookmark in a trend the league’s own data keeps underlining. On opening night of the 2025–26 season, NBA rosters featured a record 135 international players from 43 countries. All 30 teams carried at least one player born outside the United States.
That wave of talent isn’t sitting at the end of benches. Since 2019, the MVP conversation has been dominates by non-US stars. Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece) won back-to-back in 2019 and 2020. Jokic (Serbia) collected trophies in 2021, 2022 and 2024. Joel Embiid (Cameroon) won in 2023. Lastly, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Canada) claimed the 2025 award.
A FIBA analysis estimates that over 85% of MVP vote share since 2021 has gone to players born outside the US – an unthinkable split a decade ago.
You see the same pattern in the shop window. The NBA reports that Luka Dončić topped jersey sales in 2024–25. Giannis and other non-US stars are firmly embedded in the top tier of merchandise and social-media engagement. Basically, they’re the faces of the league, driving both on-court results and off-court revenue.
Jokic as the Blueprint for the Modern Global Superstar
Jokic has become the prototype. The Denver Nuggets' three MVPs, their title run, and now games like this 55-point clinic have turned the city into one of the best scoring machines in the league. Based on our own player ranks, he had an average of more than 29 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists in 2024–25.
This season, the league will play games in Mexico City, Berlin, and London. Front offices are setting up scouting groups that see Africa, Oceania, and Europe as equal places to hunt. Most of all, a Serbian center who was drafted during a Taco Bell commercial scored 55 points in Los Angeles feels right.
For fans, that's what Jokic's gem against the Clippers really showed. There was more than one man having a fit. It showed that in the NBA, the best player on the court can be from Sombor or Athens as well as Chicago or Los Angeles.
LATEST
- NEWS
- |
- ARTICLES
- |
- VIDEOS
FAN ARCH PODCAST NETWORK
