Diving into just how good Nikola Jokic truly is

Basic Statistics

Before we can dive deeper into this discussion, we must acknowledge the basics of it. That means looking at statistics with surface value, as Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic has managed to produce some of the most compelling numbers in the NBA over the past few seasons.

That’s continued into 2019-20, as he’s overcome a somewhat slow start to solidify his place as the best center in basketball—subjective, but difficult to dispute.

Jokic finished his rookie season with averages of 16.5 points, 11.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.0 block per 36 minutes. In the face of skepticism that it could translate, he averaged 16.7 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game in his second year.

Not only did he essentially match his extrapolated production with his per game output, but he averaged 21.6 points, 12.7 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.0 block per 36.

In 2017-18, he took the next step towards superstardom by averaging 18.5 points, 10.7 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game.

Over the past two seasons, Jokic has seemingly erased all doubt. He played 80 of 82 games in 2018-19, and has appeared in all 65 of the Nuggets’ games in 2019-20—during which he’s reached undeniable superstar heights.

During that three-year period, Jokic has compiled averages of 20.1 points, 10.5 rebounds, 7.1 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game.

If you want the raw data, Jokic jumps off the stat sheet.