Nikola Jokić just added another major milestone to a career that’s already redefining what we expect from an NBA big man.
On Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, Jokić recorded his 181st career regular-season triple-double, tying Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson for second on the NBA’s all-time list. The performance - 30 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists - came in a double-overtime battle against the Knicks, a game Denver ultimately dropped 134-127. But as has so often been the case with Jokić, the individual brilliance stood tall even in defeat.
To put it in perspective: Jokić hit this mark in just his 781st regular-season game, deep into his 11th NBA season. Robertson, the original triple-double king, needed 1,039 games to reach the same number - and did so in the penultimate regular-season game of his 14-year career.
That’s not to diminish what Oscar Robertson accomplished. The “Big O” was a force of nature in his time, a point guard with the size and strength to dominate in ways that were unheard of back then.
He won the 1963-64 MVP with the Cincinnati Royals and captured his lone championship with the 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks. His 1961-62 season - when he averaged 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 11.4 assists - stood as the gold standard for decades.
Nobody thought it could be done again.
Then came Russell Westbrook.
In 2016-17, Westbrook averaged a triple-double over an entire season - 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 10.4 assists - and took home MVP honors. He didn’t stop there. Westbrook would go on to average a triple-double in three of the next four seasons, eventually breaking Robertson’s all-time triple-double record on May 10, 2021, in his 940th game.
Westbrook hasn’t slowed down entirely, either. Now with the Sacramento Kings, he’s added four more triple-doubles this season. At 15.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 6.7 assists per game, he’s still producing - and still making Jokić’s climb toward the top of the list a bit steeper.
But Jokić is coming.
He’s already passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the all-time leader in assists by a center - a milestone he reached back in December. And despite missing 16 games after hyperextending his left knee in late December, the three-time MVP is still leading the NBA with 17 triple-doubles this season. He’s doing it with a level of efficiency that’s almost unheard of: he’s on pace to become the first qualified scorer in league history to shoot at least 60 percent from the field and 40 percent from three for an entire season.
That’s not just versatile. That’s historic.
Jokić is also on track to join Westbrook as the only players in NBA history to average a triple-double across multiple full seasons. Think about that for a moment - a 7-footer, orchestrating the offense like a point guard, rebounding like a power forward, and scoring with the precision of a shooting guard. There’s really no one else like him.
So yes, he’s tied Oscar. And yes, he’s got Westbrook’s record in his sights. But more than anything, Nikola Jokić is carving out his own space in basketball history - one triple-double at a time.