MIES (Switzerland) - Nikola Jokic never ceases to amaze. NEVER!
Fresh off his All-Star Five performance at the Olympic Games in Paris with bronze-medalist Serbia, the three-time NBA MVP is back with the Denver Nuggets and turning heads with his extraordinary skill and savvy.
After another monster game last night against Dallas (37 points, 18 rebounds, and 15 assists), Jokic has strengthened his position as the NBA's leader in assists per game and rebounds per game. It's something that has never been done. He is now averaging 29.7 points, 11.7 assists, and 13.7 rebounds.
This is unreal and unprecedented.
Could we be witnessing history in the making?
Jokic has been very good in both statistical categories before, but not like this year.
In the last two seasons, Jokic finished third overall in assists and they had been his best since his rookie NBA campaign in 2015-16.
In 2022-23, he averaged 9.8 assists and his 11.8 rebounds per game ranked second overall. In 2023-24, he averaged 9.0 assists while his 12.4 rebounds per game ranked fourth overall.
He showed signs of being special in the preceding two seasons.
In 2021-22, his 13.8 rebounds per game ranked second and his 7.9 assists per game was eighth most in the NBA. The 2020-21 season saw Jokic finish sixth in assists at 8.3 assists per game while in rebounding, he was ninth at 10.8 rebounds per contest.
At his current pace, Jokic is going to have a historic season.
Who else this season?
Los Angeles Clipper James Harden, an Olympic and World Cup winner with the USA, is not far off averaging a triple-double himself at 20.8 points, 9.4 assists and 8.1 rebounds per game.
Slovenia's Luka Doncic of Dallas is also putting up impressive numbers with 28.6 points per game, yet his 8.1 assists per game and 8.1 rebounds per contest are off the Jokic pace, although with a long way to go this season, he could still end up averaging a triple-double.
Lithuania's Domantas Sabonis of Sacramento is also not a million miles away from averaging a triple-double at 20.3 points, 13.1 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game.
The only players to have averaged triple-doubles in a full NBA season are a couple of former Olympic champions from the USA, FIBA Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson, and Russell Westbrook.
FIBA