Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic has been one of the leading candidates for the MVP award this season although those talks may have quieted down a bit in recent days. Nevertheless, Jokic is still one of the NBA's elite players and big reason why the Nuggets were able to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference standings. Behind his phenomenal play, they have ensured themselves homecourt advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs. At one point this season, Jokic was on pace to become the first non-guard to average a triple-double for an entire year. Even so, the numbers that he is putting up have never been done in NBA history as per the Twitter page StatMuse.

This season, Nikola Jokic has been averaging 24.8 points per game, 11.9 rebounds and 9.8 assists with shooting splits of 63.3 percent shooting from the field, 38.5 percent shooting from the three-point line and 82.1 percent shooting from the free-throw line. His shooting from the field and his assists are both career-highs.

Jokic is just a rare kind of player. A center with the vision and passing ability of a guard. He can play with his back to the basket or he can step out and shoot both the midrange jumper and the three-point shot. While his defense may leave a lot to be desired, there's no question he's a franchise player. The Nuggets have come up short in the playoffs in recent seasons and this is the year they have as good a shot as anyone in the West of making it to the NBA Finals.