Nikola Jokic just became eligible for the career box plus/minus leaderboard and he has already dethroned Magic Johnson from the third position.
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Denver Nuggets have been playing 2 starters down for the most part of the season. Nikola Jokic is single-handedly keeping them afloat and out of play-in tournament. Nuggets have a better record than LA Lakers with 3 superstars.
However, playoffs are a different story altogether. If they don’t get Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. back it will be a first-round exit for the reigning MVP.
During Tuesday night’s upsetting loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Jokic clocked in 15000 career minutes. With this, he became eligible for career BPM and his standing is already at an all-time high.
Nikola Jokic ranks third on the all-time BPM leaderboard
The box plus/minus (BPM) stat is an indication of how a player makes his team better offensively. The league average is considered to be 0.0 and anything over means the player is responsible for those many points per 100 possessions.
Nikola Jokic is currently at +8.65 right below LeBron James and Michael Jordan. To put things into perspective some superstars have BPM above 8 in their peak seasons. Having just entered his prime, Jokic will only get better.
Now that Nikola Jokic has played 15,000 career minutes, he qualifies for the career box plus/minus leaderboard…
1. Michael Jordan (9.21)
2. LeBron James (8.90)
3. Nikola Jokic (8.65)
4. Magic Johnson (7.54)https://t.co/PP5etfloIS(Kareem’s best seasons were pre-BPM) pic.twitter.com/bHCkqdeY2k
— Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey) February 2, 2022
He leads the league in player efficiency rating as well. Although the reliability of this stat is heavily debated, his ranking on it is definitely a positive. Catching up to Michael Jordan might seem like an impossible task, however, Jokic can cross LeBron James as the latter’s numbers will come down in the upcoming years.
And this is not the only list where Jokic is dangerously close to passing him. In just 7 seasons the Joker has 70 triple-doubles. At his current pace, he will cross LeBron James in 3 years and Wilt Chamberlain next season.
With Jamal Murray’s scoring and Jokic’s little bit of everything, Denver Nuggets have exciting years ahead. If they manage to retain Aaron Gordan, Jeff Green and other solid role players Nuggets will be extremely dangerous in the playoffs under Nikola Jokic’s leadership.
