Of All The Insane Nikola Jokic Stats Out There, Him Currently Leading The NBA In Total Points, Rebounds AND Assists Easily Takes The Cake

Alex Bierens de Haan. Getty Images.

You ever notice how for some NBA players we're so used to their dominance that we as fans sort of become immune to it? We see LeBron do outrageous things on the court in Year 21 and sort of shrug it off like it's no big deal. When Russell Westbrook put up multiple seasons averaging a triple double, after the first season people spent more time invalidating it than actually appreciating what we were witnessing. 

I'm starting to think we're also at that point when it comes to Nikola Jokic. When he does things like this

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It's now treated as just any other day at the office for the guy. It's just goes to show how long Jokic has been a true dominant dominant force for the Nuggets. I'm almost more shocked when he doesn't have nights like this than when he does, which seems crazy but it's the truth.

But more than just his massive triple doubles, the main reason I feel this way when it comes to Jokic is simply because of what he is currently doing for the duration of the NBA season. While early, people realize that Nikola Jokic leads the NBA in total points, total rebounds, and total assists right? 

Why the NBA uses "per game" instead of only using totals to officially determine their "league leader" will never make sense to me, but that's a topic for another day. The point is, we should probably be making a WAY bigger deal about this, and my guess is there's a good chunk of stoolies who clicked on this blog and had no idea that Jokic was doing this shit right now. Essentially we've become desensitized to it which is crazy because what he is doing is certainly not normal.

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When was the last time a single player, let alone a center, led the league in total points, rebounds, and assists? In terms of players at any position, Westbrook never did this in any of his triple double seasons, same thing with the Big O. Tiny Archibald won the scoring title and the assist title in 1973, but the rebounds obviously weren't there. In terms of a center, Wilt of course always led the NBA in points and rebounds during his era, but never assists. We've basically never seen anything like what Nikola Jokic is currently doing in 2023-24.

Now that Jokic won his title, it's a relief that people don't need to be weird about him anymore. The whole MVP discourse last year was so gross, and it's pretty obvious at this point that until further notice, Jokic should be the MVP every year. I don't want to hear shit about Embiid or Tatum or Luka or SGA. It's Jokic. It's always been Jokic. To hell with voter fatigue or any of that other bullshit. Again, he is leading the NBA in total points, rebounds and assists……as a goddamn center. The crazy thing is this is the same Jokic we've been watching for the last 4 seasons. This isn't a random fluke season, this is just who Jokic has become. 

You want to know the scary part? Jokic is doing all that, averaging his highest points per game of his career (29.0), and he's not even shooting the ball that well from three! So far this season he's shooting just 30% from deep on 4.2 3PA a night. For reference, he shot 38% last year. It's entirely possible he snaps out of that funk and settles in at a respectable 34-36% which at that point what the hell are you supposed to do? He's already unstoppable enough, and he's doing it without an outside shot.

It's pretty common to hear about how we should appreciate players like LeBron, KD, Steph etc because their aging and won't be around for ever. Well, I'm going to say the same thing about Nikola Jokic, even though he's only 28. Do not take what he's doing for granted, because we're witnessing one of the greatest players to ever play the game who is now just entering his NBA prime years. 

That's right, it's probably going to get even better from here on out. Crazy.