It was June 26, 2014: the Denver Nuggets, with the 41st pick in the draft, chose Nikola JokicSerbian big player arriving from Mega Basket. Unfortunately, this moment did not air due to an advertisement and the born in 1995 was sleeping peacefully in bed at home. These shouldn’t be the prerequisites for a legendary career, but no one could have imagined what would happen in the years to come.
The ‘Joker’ is clearly one of the most effective offensive machines of all time, he won three MVPs (2021, 2022 e 2024), took his Nuggets to the top of the NBA in 2023 (with Finals MVP attached)seven times called up to the All Star Game (with the eighth on the way) and for five times he was selected for the best starting five of the American League. Plus, No. 15 is a triple-double machine: 177 for his careerthe highest number for a center and the third best ever behind Oscar Robertson’s 181 and Russell Westbrook’s 207. The opposing defenses have tried everything, but they can’t stop Sombor’s genius: if you double him, he puts all his teammates in rhythm and creates loads of assists thanks to an excellent vision of the game, if you don’t, however, he risks scoring 40 points without difficulty.
The record: best all-time passing center
The Magic tried to find a solution to this puzzle in the match of the night, but suffered yet another triple double from the Serbian with 23 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists. Nikola Jokic, with his performance against Orlando, made history: he is the best passer of all time when it comes to the center role. The record belonged to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and has resisted since 1989, but the ‘Joker’ has surpassed it with extreme ease, especially if we consider that he is still 30 years old. The Lakers legend had stopped at 5,660 winning passes, while the Nuggets’ MVP has already reached 5,667.
The seasonal statistics of the ‘Joker’
Downtown Denver travels to 29.6 points on average (more than Kobe Bryant MVP in 2008), 10.9 assist (more than Steve Nash MVP in 2006) e 12.3 rebounds (on par with Duncan MVP in 2003). If we turn to the shooting statistics, the numbers become even more frightening: 61% from the field (Shaq, in 2000, traveled with 57%), 42% from the arc e 84% you are free. We close with the Serbian’s most incredible statistic: in the index that evaluates a player’s efficiency (the so-called PER), the ‘Joker’ has already recorded the highest number in history (28.78 last season, ahead of Jordan’s 27.91 and LeBron’s 26.83), but this year he is traveling at numbers that are out of this world. If the Regular Season ended today, his PER would be 35,4a number that is probably unbeatable for everyone. We are all witnesses: Nikola Jokic is already one of the greatest in basketball history.
photo: Denver Nuggets
