When discussing Nikola Jokic and his all-time greatness, one bullet has been removed from the chamber, as his advocates can no longer say “he’s not even 30 yet!”. Wednesday, February 19th marked the Joker’s 30th birthday, a landmark event for many professional athletes that can often signify the beginning of the end.
Luckily, there have been absolutely zero signs that Jokic is slowing down in any way. In fact, one could easily argue that he continues to improve and this season he has actually played the best basketball of his career.
In recent years, sports legends like LeBron James, Tom Brady, and Novak Djokovic have sort of rewritten history when it comes to age. These players have played - and excelled - long past the age of 30 and in some cases, even past 40.
Who knows if Jokic will have that kind of longevity, or if he even wants to. But with the way he’s playing currently and the ironman we know him to be, hopefully he has several more prime years left before we start to see any slippage.
Jokic only player to record 17500+ points, 8500+ rebounds, 5500+ assists before 30
But even if Jokic never played another game, his basketball resume before the age of 30 is one of a kind. Counting regular season and playoffs, he is the only player in NBA history to put up 17,500+ points, 8,500+ rebounds, and 5,500+ assists before turning 30.
Those counting stats are incredible and it’s a good testament to any naysayers who think Jokic can only be appreciated by advanced metrics and analytics. Points, rebounds, and assists are as old-school and conventional of stats as there are and Jokic has recorded the highest combination ever for a player prior to the age of 30.
Obviously, his resume doesn’t end there. Jokic has also won three NBA MVP awards, he has a Finals MVP under his belt, he has played in seven All-Star Games, and assuming health he is about to be named to an All-NBA team for the seventh time in his career.
He also has the highest ever Player Efficiency Rating for a single season and he’s on pace to break that record this season as well. Jokic’s success isn’t strictly in the NBA, he has turned a Serbian team full of relative no-names into a world power that recently challenged Team USA and ultimately won a Bronze Medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
There’s a case to be made that Jokic’s run in his 20s stacks up with any basketball player in the history of the world. Here’s to hoping he’s far from done and his second act will be just as good, or even better than the first one. If he can come anywhere close to recreating this run in his 30s, he will surely go down as one of, if not the greatest basketball player to ever live. Happy Birthday, Joker.