Things that just go great together: Peanut butter and jelly. Bread and butter. Surf and turf. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.
For the past 11 seasons, Denver Nuggets fans have been witnessing greatness. The dynamic duo of Jokic and Murray has been one of the best two-man combinations in NBA history. And after their historic feat in the Nuggets' 116-108 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, the duo stands alone as the greatest two-man combination of the last 30 years, and perhaps, of all time. Like a fine wine, they keep getting better with age.
They're the first to ever do it. Since tracking began in 1997-98, Jokic and Murray are the first duo to have 1,000 or more assists to each other. Jokic now has 1,001 assists to Murray, while Murray has assisted Jokic 1.086 times. It's pretty incredible, considering how easy it is for players to change teams in the modern era. And it speaks volumes about the chemistry the duo has together to continue to make it work when the other team knows it's coming and still can't stop it.
They've made the two-man game their own art form
The duo has totaled 2,087 assists to each other. Over the past four seasons, the totals were 259, 261, 246, and 317 last year, the most they've had to each other in any season. It doesn't matter if Jokic is using a DHO (direct handoff) to Murray or the pick-and-roll, or whether Murray is using a dribble penetration and kick-out to a midrange or three-pointer for Jokic. After 11 years, they know exactly how to make their signature combination work.
Murray had his finest season as a Nugget last year, joining Jokic as only the second pair of Nuggets teammates to be selected to the All-NBA in the same season. Murray's been on fire to start this year, and he's well on his way to making that a back-to-back feat.
The Nuggets need a statue of both of them out front of Ball Arena
The perfect way to eventually honor the dynamic duo is with a statue in front of Ball Arena with Jokic handing the ball off to Murray. It's just too perfect and needs to happen when both of them eventually, gulp, retire. That seems like a long way off for now, but I can't think of a better way to commemorate the legendary pair. Their magic together is why the Nuggets won their first NBA Championship in 2022-23 and will be why the Nuggets could surprise everyone this year with another run,
And one day, we'll be talking about how we, as Nuggets fans, were so lucky to witness the greatest two-man duo in NBA history firsthand.
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