Nikola Jokić joins Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook as only NBA players to average triple-double

Even with three MVP awards and a Finals MVP already in his trophy case, Nikola Jokić did something he had never done before this season.

With a 26-point, 16-rebound, 13-assist performance on Friday in a 117-109 win over the Memphis Grizzlies, the Denver Nuggets center guaranteed he will become the third player in NBA history to average a triple-double for an entire season.

The only other players to do it: Oscar Robertson and Jokić's teammate Russell Westbrook, who has done it four times.

Jokić had come tantalizingly close to a triple-double season before, averaging 24.5 points, 11.8 rebounds and 9.8 assists per game in 2022-23, the year he led the Nuggets to their first NBA championship. Over the best five seasons, he hasn't posted a mark worse than 24.5 points, 10.8 rebounds or 7.9 assists per game, while winning an MVP or a Finals MVP in every season.

And yet, this year is shaping up to be the most productive of a very productive career, with career highs in points and assists per game and the best 3-point shooting mark of his career. He has also posted a career high with 61 points in one game, which also happened to be the highest-scoring triple-double in NBA history, and the league's first 30-20-20 game.

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All of that is one half of one of the most competitive NBA MVP races in recent memory. Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilegous-Alexander is still the heavy betting favorite to win his first career MVP award, but Jokić has been steadily building a case that would probably win in most other seasons.

Jokić is having not only his most productive season, but one of the most productive in NBA history, while playing with a supporting ...