Who’s the best big man in the NBA right now?
Going into this season, the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo might have been the no-brainer answer. The 76ers’ Joel Embiid ended up with the MVP, though, and the Lakers’ Anthony Davis has talent coming out of his ear holes.
But the fourth option in this week’s “Polling Place” — your home for Sun-Times sports polls on Twitter — was the Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic, and he won the vote by a landslide.
“Jokic is a game-changing offensive catalyst for the Western Conference champs and — yes, it’s true — a plus defender,” @JasonLangendorf commented. “Pretty easy call.”
We also asked respondents to pick their career guy among a quartet of 25-and-under Cubs and White Sox players. Last, we wanted to know where you stand on sports figures taking public positions on social and/or political issues.
“I don’t care that much,” @daguyincognito wrote, “but if they’re constantly talking about it, it’s annoying.”
And from @ChiTownSports: “If a plumber or electrician can speak his mind on politics, why can’t a sports figure?”
On to the polls:
Poll No. 1: MVP talk aside, who’s the best big man in the NBA right now?
It’s time for this week’s “Polling Place.” Let us hear from you! Selected comments will appear in Saturday's paper.
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) May 25, 2023
Q1: MVP talk aside, who’s the best big man in the NBA right now?
Upshot: Jokic is playing the best basketball of his life, averaging a triple-double — 29.9 points, 13.3 rebounds and 10.3 assists — in the postseason. He clearly is as skilled across the board as any big man to play the game, but is he really better than Milwaukee’s “Greek Freak”? Some of us voted for the latter superstar, you know, we’re just saying.
Poll No. 2: Which of these 25-and-under players would you bet on to have the best career?
Q2: Which of these 25-and-under players would you bet on to have the best career?
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) May 25, 2023
Upshot: This grouping might not be entirely fair to Mervis, 25, who just got to Chicago. These votes might be overlooking Vaughn, 25, who’s a natural hitter and RBI man. Morel, 23, has torn the cover off the ball since being called up to Wrigley Field, and his versatility in the field makes him unique among this foursome. But the vote went hard — understandably — for Robert, 25, whose physical gifts are plain to see.
Poll No. 3: Where do you stand on sports figures taking public positions on social and/or political issues?
Q3: Where do you stand on sports figures taking public positions on social and/or political issues?
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) May 25, 2023
Upshot: Could we enumerate all the ways in which our nation is divided if we tried? Probably not. But most of us know by now how we react in the gut when a public figure who isn’t an elected official — let’s say a famous actor, or a sports star, or even a journalist — stakes out a position that inevitably will be hailed by some and ridiculed by others. “Speak your minds” wins it going away.
