Nikola Jokić is pretty good. As it turns out, winning three MVPs while being in the conversation for five consecutive years can make a player’s reputation look pretty good. Oh, and he also has a title.
If he retired today, he would go down as the best player in Denver Nuggets history, but that has been the case for a while. If he retired today, he would go down as the best player of the decade.
What Impact Has Nikola Jokić Had on the 2020s?
As if his resume wasn’t impressive enough already, it turns out the numbers back up historically good Jokić has been. The X account, Crazy Stats, revealed that Jokić leads all NBA players in all four of the five major categories (points, assists, rebounds, and steals) since the start of the new decade.
The only category in which Jokić doesn’t lead all NBA players is blocks. Milwaukee Bucks center Myles Turner has that honor.
Every decade:
2020s
Points – Nikola Jokić
Rebounds – Nikola Jokić
Assists – Nikola Jokić
Steals – Nikola Jokić
Blocks – Myles Turner2010s
Points – LeBron James
Rebounds – DeAndre Jordan
Assists – Russell Westbrook
Steals – Chris Paul
Blocks – Serge Ibaka2000s
Points – Kobe… https://t.co/ZiJlP3Yi9V— Crazy Stats (@NBAcrazystats) November 20, 2025
Making these numbers all the more impressive is that Michael Jordan never led NBA players in the 1990s (probably due to his brief retirement from 1993 to 1995), while LeBron James only led in two categories in the previous decade. Amazing, given that those two are considered the two best NBA players of all time.
The only NBA player who comes close to Jokić’s level in this particular case is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who led in three categories in the 1970s and is also considered the greatest basketball player of all time.
Jokić now leads this decade in total points, total rebounds, total assists, and total steals!
No player in @NBA history has ever played a decade in which he led in 4 out of 5 major statistical categories. The record is 3, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the 70s. https://t.co/fgROTb77bY pic.twitter.com/hfkv0WQp59
— Crazy Stats (@NBAcrazystats) November 20, 2025
The fact that Jokić has surpassed all of these players, as well as the other NBA legends who came before him, in these categories only further strengthens his case as the greatest player of all time. No, we’re not having that conversation yet, but statistics like these are a starting point. If the Nuggets win a few more titles with him leading the way, then it will be much harder to argue against it.
No matter where he is placed in history, Jokić is definitely among the very few NBA players who simply couldn’t be stopped. One could argue that the only reason his teams haven’t won as much is due to injuries, or that the teams the Nuggets faced simply had too great a talent advantage overall.
All in all, not bad for someone who was picked No. 41 in his draft 11 years ago.
