For many years, people have claimed that Nikola Jokic is one of the best passing big men to ever play the game, but after Thursday night, the stats are there to back it up. In the Nuggets’ 126-115 win over the Magic, with his 13 assists, Jokic passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most assists by a center in NBA history.
Jokic entered the game trailing Kareem by six assists for the overall crown and blew past him, as he now has 5,667 career assists and counting. The ‘and counting’ part may be the most incredible bit of this, as Jokic is still just 30 years old, and playing to the absolute peak of his powers with no signs of slowing down.
Highlights, production, and the eye test have long shown Jokic’s brilliance as a passer, and the way he manipulates a defense with his vision is unlike anything we’ve seen in this league before. And now he sits alone atop this list, most likely for a very long time.
Jokic will only keep adding to career assists lead
Jokic is still in the early stages of his 11th season in the league, with 771 career games played under his belt. He’s averaging 7.4 assists per game, and that number is rising as he’s at 10.9 this season, after going for 10.2 a game last season.
To put things in perspective, Abdul Jabbar needed 20 seasons and 1,560 games in his illustrious career to reach 5,660 career assists, the all-time record up until Thursday night. He averaged just 3.6 assists per game, and his high for a season was 5.4.
The Joker passed Kareem without even playing half the number of games, proving decisively that he is far and away the best passing center the league has ever seen. As if there was any doubt.
All-time assist mark in Jokic's sights?
At this point, Jokic should have his eyes on bigger sights. There was no real disputing the idea that he’s the best passing center, but what about the best overall passer? By passing Kareem, Joker moved into the top 50 in assists for all NBA players, regardless of position.
John Stockton holds the record, with an almost unfathomable 15,806, but only eight players have ever gone over 10,000. With the way he’s currently playing, there’s no reason Jokic couldn’t play another 5-8 seasons in the league if he wants to.
He’s not going to put up 10+ assists per game forever, but there’s really no reason to expect a dropoff in that aspect of his game. The sky is the limit, and Jokic should just keep climbing up this list for the rest of his career. Who knows? Perhaps he shocks us all and plays for 20 years, like Kareem, which could even make Stockton start to sweat.