By now, all NBA fans are well versed in the greatness of Nikola Jokic, but I’m not sure people fully grasp just how dominant he has become. To put things into perspective, the Joker now has the most total points, rebounds, assists, and steals for this decade.
There are obviously still several years to go in the decade, but no player has ever led in four of the big five statistical categories, with the record being three by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the 1970s.
Joker has a pretty healthy lead in rebounds, assists, and steals, and doesn’t have a lot of younger players nipping at his heels. It seems very reasonable, and perhaps even likely, that he’ll be leading those categories when 2030 rolls around.
The test will be the points. That’s the stat where he has the narrowest lead as he just pulled into first place, passing Jayson Tatum, who, of course, has yet to play this season after tearing his achilles. But Tatum will be back to start piling up points before long, and Giannis Antetokounmp, Luka Doncic, Devin Booker, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander aren’t far behind.
Jokic leading 3 or 4 categories would cement legacy of dominance
There’s a good chance Jokic isn’t able to hold off that collection of players when it comes to points, as those players are younger, and scoring is a bigger emphasis in each of their games. Jokic would rather set the table, run the show, and exploit mismatches to set up his teammates for easy looks.
He certainly gets his, and when the team needs points, he’s willing and able to go get them. But maintaining a lead for four or five years is going to be a tall task. But the other three seem well within play, and that would still match Kareem’s record.
In an era like this, for one player to be putting up this kind of numbers across the board is absurd. For it to be a center, and blocks to not even be one of the categories, is even more outrageous.
It speaks to Jokic’s overall brilliance, how he’s able to own the glass, set the table, score points, and use his hands on defense. He’s basically doing everything his team could possibly need to win games, and doing it all at an extremely high level.
On top of that, these numbers speak to Jokic’s durability. He’s never been the fastest or the most athletic. He’s not some physical specimen or the image of fitness. But he’s as reliable as it gets, almost machine-like with his ability to keep going and going regardless of the circumstances.
He never seems to tire, his play never seems to suffer, and he’s consistently producing regardless of his teammates. It has been a joy to watch, and hopefully, it will continue for the rest of the decade and beyond.