The discussion surrounding Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic turned sour to end the regular season. But that simply may have fueled Jokic to put up a historic run in the 2023 NBA playoffs. In this postseason alone, the Nuggets center put up 10 triple-doubles, with at least two coming in each round en route to winning the 2023 NBA championship.

After putting up 28 more points and 16 more rebounds in the Nuggets' 94-89 Game 5 win over the Miami Heat to seal their fate as champion, Jokic ended the 2023 NBA playoffs with stellar averages of 30 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 9.5 assists per game. In fact, the Nuggets star ended the playoffs as the leader in all three aforementioned statistical categories. And he may have bested LeBron James in that regard as a result.

As Bill Simmons of The Ringer pointed out, Nikola Jokic put up 52.9 cumulative points, rebounds, and assists per night during the 2023 NBA playoffs. In contrast, James, in his best-ever statistical playoff run with the 2018 Cleveland Cavaliers, put up “just” 52.1 (34 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 9.0 assists per game).

To put the greatness of Jokic's 2023 playoff run in even greater perspective, the Nuggets star became just the eighth player in NBA history to tally 50+ combined points, rebounds, and assists in a single playoff run. He joined the likes of Bill Russell (who achieved the feat three times), Wilt Chamberlain (twice), LeBron James, Julius Erving, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West, and Elgin Baylor, which is an incredible list of names to be a part of.

Of course, among the players who are part of what Bill Simmons calls as “The 50 Club”, only three players won the championship while doing so. Bill Russell was one of them, because of course he is knowing his standing as the greatest winner in NBA history, while Wilt Chamberlain also broke through in 1967. And now, Nuggets star Nikola Jokic joins that elite two-man company, staking his claim as one of the greatest ever centers to play the game.

This just goes to show that tallying this gaudy a stat line on a nightly basis doesn't necessarily guarantee a championship. So for the Nuggets big man to win it all shows just how conducive his playstyle is to winning basketball.