Jokic did not lead the league in points created this season (points scored plus points created by assist) - that honor went to Trae Young by a wide margin. Nikola Jokic produced an average of 10.8 points for every minute the ball was in his hands Jokic and Antetokounmpo are the only players to have ever averaged 25+ points, 10+ rebounds and 5+ assists with a true shooting percentage of 60 or better. Lower the threshold to 5+ assists and we still only add DeMarcus Cousins, Elgin Baylor, Charles Barkley two Kareem Abdul-Jabbar seasons, two Wilt Chamberlain seasons and four Giannis Antetokounmpo seasons. Larry Bird is the only other player to have managed a 25+ point, 10+ rebound and 6+ assist season, back in 1984-85. What makes this even more remarkable is how rarely anyone else has even approached this threshold. The other two are Russell Westbrook and Oscar Robertson, both of whom managed triple-double averages for a full season. Jokic joined elite company this season by becoming just the third player in NBA history to average at least 25 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists per game in multiple seasons. Nikola Jokic became just the third player ever to average 25+ points, 10+ rebounds and 7+ assists per game You can play “find the eye-popping” stat with Jokic forever but here are a few that really put the icing on his MVP cake this year. However, Jokic has an extremely compelling narrative with some of his key teammates missing most or all of the season and a historic stat line to buoy it. It appeared to be a tight race this season with conversation centering around Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid. It was Jokic’s second consecutive MVP award and put him in a select group as just the 12th player in league history to win back-to-back MVPs. This morning, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke news that Nikola Jokic had been selected as the NBA MVP, with an official announcement to come later this week. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more.
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