NEW ORLEANS – Denver’s All-Star-less drought should come to an end Thursday night.

That’s when All-Star reserves will be announced, and Nikola Jokic will in all likelihood become the first Nuggets player since Carmelo Anthony in 2011 to earn a spot on the star-studded roster.

If Jokic doesn’t make the team despite flirting with a triple-double on most nights, Nuggets coach Michael Malone joked there should be an investigation.

But that shouldn’t be necessary as everyone from San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich to Clippers coach Doc Rivers to Miami’s Erik Spoelstra have sung Jokic’s praises this season. NBA coaches vote on the reserves after fans, players and a select media panel voted on starters ahead of next month’s showcase in Charlotte on Feb. 17.

Rivers claimed recently that all coaches try to lobby other coaches on their players’ behalf, “but I don’t know if a coach actually hears you,” Rivers said.

“We make our customary calls, and the e-mails. Some coaches are very honest with you and tell you ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ and some coaches completely lie to you and say, ‘Absolutely.’ I know I had one year where every coach said, ‘Yeah, I got him,’ and then the guy didn’t make the All-Star team. I know there’s not a lot of honesty there. But we put each other in tough situations when we do that.”

Malone said he doesn’t participate in the practice. In the case of Jokic, who’s averaging 20.1 points, 10.3 rebounds and 7.6 assists for the second-best team in the Western Conference, he shouldn’t need to.

“I don’t do that,” Malone said. “Nikola lobbies every time he plays, so I’m not gonna go there and beg and plead for anybody. It’s up to them to recognize the greatness that he exhibits almost every single night, and I think this year it’s a foregone conclusion that he’ll be an All-Star, and the biggest reason why is not just because of his play, but the level that we’ve won at. When you win at the level we’re at with as young as we are and all the injuries that we’ve had, we need guys to play at All-NBA type levels, and Nikola’s done that.”

Aside from the respect he’ll earn from his peers and, perhaps, officials, Malone said there’s the added benefit of learning from the two dozen best players in the world.

“I think any time you’re around the greatest players in the world, just by being with them, talking to them, getting to know them, learning about them and seeing how they approach the game, is also a great opportunity,” Malone said. “It’s not every day you get to be around the 24 best players in the world.”