The Denver Nuggets, who will be champions in 2023, have been indifferent for the last 18 months. After dominating the regular season the previous year, they were unable to get to the NBA Finals. However, franchise cornerstone Nikola Jokic cruised to a third MVP championship all by himself. Despite the Nuggets’ struggles at the start of the 24-25 season, Jokic is likely having his finest year yet.
What’s so perplexing about the big Serbian season this year is that the Nuggets have one of the smallest rosters in terms of depth. Only a year ago, squad depth was one of their key strengths. And just because so much of the load, not only offensively but also defensively, falls on Jokic’s shoulders; his statistics have skyrocketed. In the ten games he has played this season, the Joker has averaged 30 points and a triple-double. But the statistic that stands out the most about his season is that the Nuggets have the highest offensive rating in NBA history while Jok is on the court and the lowest offensive rating in NBA history when he is not.
There has only been one unanimous MVP season, and it was Stephen Curry’s in 2016. The Warriors were the best regular-season team in NBA history that year and Curry averaged 30 points per game while shooting 45% from deep. This season, however, Jokic has
Although the Joker’s shooting splits are expected to fall throughout the season, it is still impressive that he is hitting 56% of his threes while averaging 29.7 points, 13.7 rebounds, and 11.7 assists. And these figures look much worse when you consider that Shaquille O’Neal’s highest PPG season came in 1999-00 when he averaged 29.7 points. Tim Duncan’s highest RPG season was in 2002-03, when he averaged 12.9 boards per game, while Chris Paul’s highest APG season was in 2007-08, when he averaged 11.6 assists. Meanwhile, Nikola Jokic has them all beat in a single season, all on his own.