Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic continues to fill up the stat sheet at an otherworldly pace.
He notched his 18th triple-double of the season Sunday night in a win over the Golden State Warriors, giving him 139 for his career, including both regular season and playoff games. That’s good for fourth-most all-time and one more than LeBron James, a forward for the Los Angeles Lakers and arguably the greatest basketball player ever.
Except Jokic did it in 1,034 fewer games played.
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James, who has dominated the league since being drafted No. 1 overall out of high school in 2003, has played in 1,753 career games between the regular season and postseason. Jokic, the 41st pick in the 2014 draft, has played in 719.
Sunday’s feat for Jokic comes two days after his 17th triple-double of the year gave him one against every NBA team he’s faced. He joins James and Russell Westbrook — a current member of the Los Angeles Clippers and the all-time triple-doubles leader — as the only players to ever do that.
Jokic recorded 32 points, 16 rebounds and 16 assists Sunday. He’s averaging more than 26 points, 12 rebounds and 9 assists per contest on the year as the Nuggets stand at the No. 4 seed in an airtight Western Conference.
Jokic and the Nuggets will square off against James and the Lakers on Saturday.
This story was originally published by Landon Haaf at Scripps News Denver.
