Jokic could join a few select NBA clubs

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The clubs Nikola Jokic is about to join are extremely exclusive.

If named MVP for the third consecutive season, he will join an elite group that includes only Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Larry Bird. And while he averages a triple-double all season, he’ll only keep Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook company.

Jokic says he doesn’t mind joining those rosters. But it could still happen.

The Denver Nuggets are the best team in the Western Conference, and Jokic is the main reason why. The 28-year-old Serb has been the best player in the league for two years.

And halfway through the campaign, he looks like the star again.

“I can’t lie,” Cleveland goaltender Donovan Mitchell said. “I don’t know if you all watched what Jokic is doing. It’s… crazy, to be honest. I don’t know how many people have won three times in a row. I really feel like I’m in this conversation now too, but he’s from another world now.”

Jokic’s numbers: 24.7 points, 11.5 rebounds and 10.1 assists per game. He scored 63% of his baskets, including 39% of his 3 points.

Such statistics are unprecedented. Some players got more points, more assists, more rebounds or aimed better. But no one has compiled all of those averages and percentages simultaneously in a single season — let alone a center.

Westbrook is the point guard, the same position Robertson was playing. In the years they averaged triple-doubles, four for Westbrook and one for Robertson, they only made 48% of their shots.

Jokic is nearly two-of-three shots, and he’s the primary target of any Denver opponent’s defensive effort.

“I just think he’s playing at his own pace,” said Pascal Siakam of Toronto. “You can’t really stop what he’s doing… He does what he wants, with his passing ability, his shooting. He’s very smart on the pitch.”

The Nuggets are five games ahead of Memphis — Denver has 23 games left and the Grizzlies 25 — in the fight for the top spot in the Western Conference. Denver is poised to clinch the top seed in the conference, giving it home-court advantage for at least the first three rounds of the playoffs.

And that advantage would be relevant, given that Denver’s 27-4 record at home is the best in the NBA. Obviously, teams don’t like to play at 5,280 feet (1,609 meters) above sea level.

They also can’t match the way Jokic thinks. His brain was 1,611 meters (5,287 feet) above sea level.

The Balkan star has played 51 games. The Nuggets are 38-13 in those games and 3-5 when he’s out.

Denver coach Michael Malone was asked how he would map out Jokic’s main strengths.

“Sporting conditions, 1%. I would start with that,” he replied. “Then I would say that the big pieces of this Serbian cake are IQ and generosity, the ability to make each of your teammates better. What amazes me, after having led Nikola for eight years… that’s the consistency to be great. There are a lot of great players in the league, but for Nikola to win the MVP, do it again, and now have an even better season… testifies to his tremendous consistency.”