There is a good reason why Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets is now a two-time MVP.
The big man is something truly special: an excellent scorer, great ball handler and leader, and wonderful assist maker.
When you really dig into his stats, you see a center unlike any other.
Career “points plus points generated by assists” per game (regular and postseason) for these three:
34.7 — Nikola Jokic
33.6 — Joel Embiid
30.3 — Karl-Anthony Towns https://t.co/kNmbO4FXuB— Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey) August 3, 2022
Jokic has 19.7 points per game, behind Karl-Anthony Towns‘ 23.2 and Joel Embiid‘s 26.
But when you also factor in career “points plus points generated by assists” per game, you see that Jokic has an average of 34.7 points, while Embiid has 33.6, and Towns has 30.3.
This goes to show that Jokic really is the most important part of his team and is so much more than simply a giant body in the middle of the court.
Joker’s Wild Stats
There are some people who don’t quite comprehend just how wonderful Jokic is.
They see an immense, beefy 6-foot-11 center and think he’s just another run-of-the-mill big man.
But he’s not, he’s an awful lot more.
Jokic is easily one of the best passers in the league.
Watching him find his teammates on the court is sometimes a work of art and is downright astonishing.
It has been such a long time since a center has passed in the ways that Jokic can.
He can obviously score (27.1 points per game last season) and he can get boards (13.8) and can assist (7.9).
All of this adds up to a player who is built like a center but can also play like a guard or forward too.
Jokic is becoming the sort of generational talent that people will be talking about for years to come.
He has earned his multiple MVP trophies.
NEXT: Nikola Jokic Has Greatly Surpassed 2 NBA Legends