Nikola Jokić Is Simply One of the Greatest to Ever Play
With 24 games played for the Denver Nuggets so far in the 2024-25 NBA season, Nikola Jokić continues to impress. His numbers this season and for the past few seasons are simply incomprehensible. Assuming Jokić can continue to put up outrageous numbers throughout the conclusion of the season, he will find himself in one of the most prestigious clubs in NBA history. All while single-handedly carrying the Nuggets to the current fifth seed in the Western Conference, only two and a half games back of the second-seed Memphis Grizzlies.
Averaging over 30.9 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 9.9 assists, Nikola Jokić is nearly averaging a triple-double while putting together some absurd stat lines. On December 5th, Jokić had 27 points, 20 rebounds, 11 assists, and three steals. Two days later, on December 7th, Jokić scored 56 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, and dished out eight assists. On the second night of a back-to-back on December 8th, Jokić scored 48 to go along with 14 rebounds, eight assists, and three steals. In previous years, these would be some of the best stat lines of the entire season, but the truth is that Nikola Jokić puts on this type of performance almost every other night. With 10 triple-doubles in 21 games played for the Nuggets this season, at only age 29, Jokić sits third all-time with 140 triple-doubles, having passed Magic Johnson earlier this season. The next center closest to him on this list is Wilt Chamberlain, who trails him by 62 triple-double performances. Currently, he ranks second in points per game, second in rebounds per game, and second in assists per game while leading the league in efficiency rating.
Although there is a lot of basketball left to play in the 2024-25 season, Nikola Jokić is approaching the status of some of the greatest basketball players ever. Another MVP award this season would give Jokić four in his career and would make him one out of only six players to ever win four or more in their career. Furthermore, a fourth MVP award this year would make Nikola Jokić one of only three players to win four MVP awards in five seasons, the other two being Bill Russell and LeBron James. As for the year in which Jokić did not win the MVP, he finished in a controversial second place, losing out to Joel Embiid despite averaging 24.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 9.8 assists, nearly a triple-double. Jokić, however, was able to get the last laugh, as he led the Denver Nuggets to their first NBA title that season and took home the NBA Finals MVP award while Embiid's 76ers were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. With so many individual accolades won by Jokić already, likely the most defining statistic that is left to cement his legacy further is the number of NBA titles he is able to win. Having won one in the 2022-23 season, Jokić will hope to lead Denver to a couple more banners before his career is over.
