With one slick pass, Nikola Jokic made history.
The Denver Nuggets star broke another NBA record and surpassed a legend during Tuesday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks.
Jokic is no stranger to milestones and Tuesday’s game against the Mavericks became another stage for the Serbian to display his greatness and break a 35-year NBA record in the process.
The three-time MVP is enjoying another fine season for the Nuggets, averaging a career high in points with 31.2 and 13.2 rebounds.
Jokic also secured his 146th career triple-double late in the third quarter during the 118-99 win over the Mavericks.
In doing so, the 2023 NBA champion became the fastest player to reach 15,000 points, 7,500 rebounds and 5,000 assists, accomplishing the feat in just 709 games.
The previous quickest player to reach that feat was NBA legend Larry Bird.
The records do not stop there for Jokic, the Serbian also made history with Russell Westbrook as the first pair of teammates to record a triple-double in the same game twice in a single season.
Jokic’s 35 points, 15 assists and 12 rebounds saw him record his 15th triple-double of the season while Westbrook had 25 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
“I think it’s that’s the style both of us play,” Jokic said. “I’m just glad we’re winning the games because that’s more important than the stats. It’s special, the relationship.”
Denver coach Michael Malone could not contain his own awe at the news of the record, saying: “Wow, that’s pretty crazy. We’re watching history, folks.”
Jokic’s record-breaking achivement had fans debating on how impressive the achievement actually after the NBA posted the news he had surpassed Larry Bird.
One fan believes records are inflated today due to the style of play in the NBA with defences not as strong as they were in previous eras along with teams averaging dozens of more threes per game.
“Jokic is a beast. No doubt. However, Bird’s numbers would be inflated in today’s NBA, as he played during an era when team’s didn’t take as many 3’s and actually played defense. Not sure he’d accomplish it in 90 less games but he’d def be closer to Jokic,” the posted on X.
“If Larry Bird had played in today’s NBA, he would’ve had numbers better than Jokić in that amount of games,” another fan wrote.
However, some online were quick to point out that Jokic’s achievements should be considered impressive when contextualised with the fact the Serbian averaged just 24.8 minutes in his first two seasons.
“Imagine if he didn’t have to come off the bench in his first 1.5 seasons,” one fan was quick to point out.
The Nuggets sit at fourth in the Western Conference and have enjoyed a uptick in form as of late with their win over the Mavs making it four consecutive victories in the league.