Nikola Jokić joins Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook as only NBA players to average triple-double

Jokić had come tantalizingly close to a triple-double season before, averaging 24.5 points, 11.8 rebounds and 9.8 assists per game in 2022-23, the year he led the Nuggets to their first NBA championship. Over the best five seasons, he hasn’t posted a mark worse than 24.5 points, 10.8 rebounds or 7.9 assists per game, while winning an MVP or a Finals MVP in every season.

And yet, this year is shaping up to be the most productive of a very productive career, with career highs in points and assists per game and the best 3-point shooting mark of his career. He has also posted a career high with 61 points in one game, which also happened to be the highest-scoring triple-double in NBA history, and the league’s first 30-20-20 game.

All of that is one half of one of the most competitive NBA MVP races in recent memory. Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilegous-Alexander is still the heavy betting favorite to win his first career MVP award, but Jokić has been steadily building a case that would probably win in most other seasons.

Jokić is having not only his most productive season, but one of the most productive in NBA history, while playing with a supporting cast that has atrophied so badly since winning the title that the Nuggets fired head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth. Without Jokić, it’s hard to see the Nuggets coming close to even the play-in tournament.