Nikola Jokic is having one of the greatest statistical seasons in NBA history. Jokic is averaging 27.8 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 10.9 assists in the 2025-26 NBA season, becoming the second player in NBA history to average a triple-double in consecutive seasons. The Denver Nuggets center is once again one of the frontrunners in the MVP conversation, but with a week left in the regular season, it seems a fourth MVP is unlikely for the Serbian center.
The odds-on-favorite to win MVP for a second consecutive season is OKC Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, averaging 31.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 6.6 assists. The Thunder have secured the No. 1 seed in the West and the best record in the NBA, and Gilgeous-Alexander received 88 first-place votes on ESPN’s recent MVP straw poll.
NBA legend Paul Pierce doesn’t want Jokic’s historic season to be forgotten, as the Serbian center is going to become the first-ever player to lead the league in rebounds and assists. On the ‘No Fouls Given’ podcast, Pierce was stunned to see the MVP race be almost unanimously in Shai’s favor. The 2008 Finals MVP also declared that we would see a player score 100 points in a game before we see someone lead the league in both rebounds and assists.
“You’ll have a better chance of scoring 100 points in a game than having a guy lead the league in assists and rebounds. “Does that not weigh anything? This is not a knock on SGA; it just shouldn’t be this type of disparity. It should be a lot closer.”
The closest player we’ve seen to leading the league in both rebounds and assists is Russell Westbrook in one of the four seasons he averaged a triple-double. However, Westbrook never came close to leading the league in rebounds in those years.
Jokic has a 1.0 assist per game lead over second-place Cade Cunningham and a 1.0 rebound per game lead over second-place Karl-Anthony Towns. Neither player will catch Jokic before the end of the season, so his record-breaking season is all but secured. Jokic is also eighth in the NBA in points per game, putting a bow on what’s been an individual season we might never see again.
Given that we just saw Bam Adebayo score 83 points without being particularly efficient or being a high-volume three-point shooter, it’s not far-fetched to say a player might score 100 points in a game soon. However, it doesn’t look like there’s a transcendent center like Jokic who could even hope to lead the league in assists and rebounds.
The only player in the NBA who could hope to have a similar season is Luka Doncic, but it’s hard to picture how he would be able to consistently average over 12 rebounds a game for a season to lead the league in this stat over the centers. It isn’t hard to imagine Doncic leading the league in assists, but rebounds would be his challenge, especially in the Victor Wembanyama era.
Even with Jokic’s incredible numbers, he might finish third in the MVP race behind Gilgeous-Alexander and Wembanyama, as those two have led their teams to better winning records. This might be a reductive way to award the MVP, but it seems like it will be the criterion that causes this Jokic season to potentially be forgotten in the sea of incredible seasons he’s had over his career.
