Waxing rhapsodic about the 3x NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, Celtics legends (and 2008 NBA champions) Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett can’t find enough words to praise the Denver Nuggets centerpiece.
That’s because Jokic’s statistics this year are turning even the most jaded heads, as the big fella leads a Denver team that wins even when their other star players are hurt. Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon have missed time for Denver, yet it doesn’t seem to matter: the Nuggets are still 7-3 and on a five-game win streak.
Why? The Serbian superstar is averaging a staggering 29.7 points, 13.7 rebounds and 11.7 assists. Garnett and Pierce consider the implications of those numbers, saying that nobody has ever led the league in rebounds and assists — “not even close” — yet Jokic is on pace to do that now, while also in the top five in scoring.
Nikola Jokic in Denver’s win over Dallas:
37 points
18 rebounds
15 assists
3 steals
13-21 FGM
He’s the first player in NBA history to put up 37+ PTS, 18+ REB, 15+ AST in a game
— NBA UK (@NBAUK) November 11, 2024
(NOTE: The great Wilt Chamberlain was close, actually: he led the league in total assists, though not assists per game, in 1966-67, a year when he also led the NBA in rebounding.)
Garnett and Pierce get busy trying to put some numbers on Jokic’s numbers — that is, to translate those stats into pure dollars. And they come up with a staggering figure. “What’s his value?” Garnett asks Pierce, “if you’re his agent, what’s his value?”
Pierce replies: “His next contract gonna be like 500.” (That’s $500 million.)
Garnett, impressed and concurring, chimes in: “Man you supposed to — you supposed to ask for it bro. You supposed to go for it. He supposed to be the first.”
KG and Paul Pierce talk Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets
“Have we ever had someone lead the league in rebounding and assists? Hell no – not even close” pic.twitter.com/0nx8RkJADt
— n i k o l a e s t h e t i c (@nikolaesthetic) November 15, 2024
Garnett and Pierce essentially cast Jokic as the equivalent to somebody like Shohei Ohtani of the LA Dodgers, who both hits and pitches — an exceptionally rare, Ruthian thing — and who gets paid as though he is two different players, with a salary that almost equals the salary of a great pitcher plus the great hitter’s salary. Jokic would get paid like the league’s best rebounder, and then again like its top assist man. Oh and the scoring…