One could spend hours digging through the NBA record books and not find a postseason quite like the one Nikola Jokic just authored in leading the Denver Nuggets to the 2023 title.
The Serbian center became the first player in NBA history to tally at least 500 points, 250 rebounds and 150 assists in a single postseason before Monday’s game even tipped off. As his averages across each of the major counting stats (points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks) illustrate, that isn’t simply a byproduct of the number of games played, either.
In fact, Jokic’s performance over the last two months will easily go down as one of the greatest in postseason history, with only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 1974 showing — which ended with his Bucks falling to Boston in the NBA Finals — producing a higher cumulative total. And that’s not even taking into account the Joker’s unparalleled efficiency with shooting splits of 54.8/46.1/79.9. A look at the numbers:
| Player, team | Year | Games | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Milwaukee | 1974 | 16 | 32.2 | 15.8 | 4.9 | 1.3 | 2.4 | 56.6 |
| Nikola Jokic, Denver* | 2023 | 20 | 30.0 | 13.5 | 9.5 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 55.1 |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee | 2022 | 12 | 31.7 | 14.2 | 6.8 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 54.7 |
| LeBron James, Cleveland | 2018 | 22 | 34.0 | 9.1 | 9.0 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 54.5 |
| Michael Jordan, Chicago | 1990 | 16 | 36.7 | 7.2 | 6.8 | 2.8 | 0.9 | 54.4 |
| LeBron James, Cleveland | 2009 | 14 | 35.3 | 9.1 | 7.3 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 54.2 |
| LeBron James, Cleveland | 2017 | 18 | 32.8 | 9.1 | 7.8 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 52.9 |
| LeBron James, Cleveland | 2015 | 20 | 30.1 | 11.3 | 8.5 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 52.7 |
| Michael Jordan, Chicago | 1989 | 17 | 34.8 | 7.0 | 7.6 | 2.5 | 0.8 | 52.7 |
| Shaquille O’Neal, L.A. Lakers* | 2000 | 23 | 30.7 | 15.4 | 3.1 | 0.6 | 2.4 | 52.2 |
| Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, L.A. Lakers* | 1980 | 15 | 31.9 | 12.1 | 3.1 | 1.1 | 3.9 | 52.1 |
| Shaquille O’Neal, L.A. Lakers* | 2001 | 16 | 30.4 | 15.4 | 3.2 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 51.8 |
| Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston* | 1995 | 22 | 33.0 | 10.3 | 4.5 | 1.2 | 2.8 | 51.8 |
| Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston | 1993 | 12 | 25.7 | 14.0 | 4.8 | 1.8 | 4.9 | 51.2 |
| Kevin Durant, Brooklyn | 2021 | 12 | 34.3 | 9.3 | 4.4 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 51.1 |
| Michael Jordan, Chicago* | 1993 | 19 | 35.1 | 6.7 | 6.0 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 50.8 |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee* | 2021 | 21 | 30.2 | 12.8 | 5.1 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 50.3 |
| Luka Doncic, Dallas | 2022 | 15 | 31.7 | 9.8 | 6.4 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 50.3 |
| Charles Barkley, Philadelphia | 1986 | 12 | 25.0 | 15.8 | 5.6 | 2.3 | 1.3 | 50.0 |
| Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston | 1994 | 23 | 28.9 | 11.0 | 4.3 | 1.7 | 4.0 | 49.9 |
* Won NBA title | Source: basketball-reference.com | Minimum 12 games played
Note: The NBA did not start counting blocks and steals until the 1973-74 season.
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