Russell Westbrook’s 10th rebound against the Memphis Grizzlies on the 19th of November was a historic one. It took Brodie’s stats on the night to 12-14-10, and secured the 200th triple-double of his career. He became the first and only player in NBA history to hit that milestone. Meanwhile, his teammate Nikola Jokić has been on a run of his own. He recorded 5 straight triple-doubles before yesterday’s win over the Lakers, falling 2 assists short of a 6th in a row.
Advertisement
With his career tally at 137 so far, will the Joker ever pass his teammate and break his all-time record?
Nikola Jokić is a triple-double machine
Jokić, with his 137 triple-doubles, is already 4th on the NBA’s all-time list. He’s 1 behind magic Johnson, and the closest active player to him is LeBron James, with 117. Jokic breaking Magic’s record isn’t a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. He has had the most triple-doubles in the league over the last 4 years, boasting a mind-numbing 80 since the start of the 2021-22 season.
He’s also currently averaging a triple-double this season, with 30.3 points, 13.9 rebounds, and 11.3 assists per game. If he maintains this, he’d join Russell Westbrook and Oscar Robertson as the only players to average it over a season.
Another thing working in Jokić’s favor is the steady aging of Westbrook.
Russell Westbrook is on the decline
At 36 years of age, Brodie isn’t the athletic demon he was in his MVP season. In fact, his stats have taken a hit too, and he hasn’t registered more than 4 triple-doubles in a season since 2021-22, where he had 10. Add on the fact that as a player on the Nuggets, he won’t get the opportunity to put up the same numbers because of Jokić’s presence, and it paints a rather forlorn picture for Mr. Triple Double.
It seems very unlikely he’ll record his 201st, although if he were to change teams before retirement to a non-contender, he might add a couple more.
With Jokić’s dominance over the league right now and the fact that at 29, he’s just reaching his prime, it may not be much of a discussion if he’ll cross Westbrook’s all-time record by the time he retires.
Plus, Jokić’s game isn’t entirely dependent on his physicality. Sure, as a center in the NBA, he does post players up, but he’s smart when picking his matchups, and he doesn’t get injured very often. He’s never played less than 69 games a season in his career, proving that he’s ridiculously durable for a man of his size and weight.
At 6’11, Jokić will never lose the ability to pick a rebound, and with his court vision and passing skill, it’s pretty safe to assume that he could be dishing out behind-the-back passes and pulling down 13 rebounds even late into his 30s.
The hardest thing to do will be maintaining his scoring, but he’s unbelievably agile and has incredible finishing at the rim. Pair that with the fact that he’s a career 35.5% shooter from beyond the arc, Jokic looks set to dominate the stat sheet for a very very long time.
Nikola Jokić will most certainly break Russell Westbrook’s triple-double record if he plays long enough.
