Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic continues to rewrite NBA history. On Thursday, the Denver Nuggets star became the first player in the 79-year history of the league to put up a 55/15/15 stat line, as he finished with 56 points, 16 rebounds, 15 assists and two blocks in his team’s stunning 142-138 OT win over the Timberwolves.
According to OptaSTATS, a 55/15/15 stat line eluded even Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson, the NBA’s greatest stat-sheet stuffers before Jokic entered the league.
Jokic’s 18 points in OT also set a new NBA record, surpassing the previous mark of 17 points set by Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry.
Nikola Jokic Makes NBA History — Again
It’s worth noting that the only player to record even a 50/15/15 stat line before Thursday’s game was James Harden, who had 53 points, 16 rebounds and 17 assists for the Houston Rockets against the New York Knicks on December 24, 2016.
Jokic’s latest feat continues his recent trend of registering first-time stat lines. Last season, he registered the first-ever 30/20/20 game against the Phoenix Suns on March 7, 2025. Earlier in the season, he became the first to put up a 37/18/15 stat line against the Dallas Mavericks on November 11, 2024.
That trend has been ongoing for years. When he won his third MVP in the 2023-24 season, the Serbian star became the first player to record unique stat lines such as 26/16/18, 32/16/16 and four steals and 35/17/12 and six steals.
Modern Day Wilt Chamberlain
Many analysts have aptly coined Nikola Jokic the modern-day Wilt Chamberlain for rewriting the NBA record books, much like “The Big Dipper” did in the 1960s.
Last season, Jokic became the first non-guard in NBA history to average a triple-double, tallying 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists through 70 games. It was arguably the most efficient and productive season by a player in NBA history, as he ranked first in Efficiency, second in assists, third in points, fourth in rebounds and fourth in steals, becoming the fisrt player ever to do so.
Jokic, 30, also became the fastest player ever to reach a combined career tally of 16,000 points, 8,000 rebounds and 5,000 assists during the 2024-25 season.
In NBA.com’s latest KIA MVP Ladder, Jokic was ranked No. 1, as writer Shaun Powell made a strong case for the Nuggets star winning his fourth Michael Jordan Trophy.
“Jokić remains the jack of all trades when it comes to the Nuggets,” Powell wrote. “Once again, he’s leading his team in multiple categories — scoring, rebounds, assists, steals — while displaying uncanny efficiency. He’s shooting 61%, which is remarkable for someone who qualifies as a volume shooter and the focal point of his team’s offense. And he has 13 triple-doubles in 25 games (14 after Thursday’s game).”
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