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USA Today via Reuters

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USA Today via Reuters

Nikola Jokic has been arguably the best player in the NBA for the past couple of seasons. His impact on the court is visible, and he is the main reason behind the Denver Nuggets winning the championship in 2023. But there is often more to his impact that may go unnoticed. When looking at advanced statistics, it can often baffle people how Jokic has placed himself among NBA greats.

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In a recent video released by JJ Redick, he talked about the greatness of Nikola Jokic and crowned him the new ‘EGOAT’ of the NBA.

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Nikola Jokic is the most efficient player ever

In pop culture, an EGOT is someone who has won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony award. Well, Redick believes Jokic is someone who is an EGOAT, which, according to him, stands for Efficiency Greatest Of All Time.

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USA Today via Reuters

He strongly believes that currently there is no one in the NBA who can be called this than Nikola Jokic. The advanced statistics always show the real impact of Jokic on the court.

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When looking at the player efficiency rating (PER) in the last three seasons, Jokic has led the rest of the competition by significant margins. In the 2021?22 NBA season, Jokic set the record for the highest PER in NBA history. But now, in 2023, he is breaking the record that he himself set two years ago through the first 10 games of the season.

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Another statistic where Jokic excels is the Box Plus-Minus (BPM). This calculates how good a player has been on the court for a team.

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Two players in NBA history who have had a BPM of 12 points or more are LeBron James, who did it once, and Michael Jordan, who did it twice. But Nikola Jokic is currently on his way to having his fourth straight season with a BPM of over 12.

Jokic has been great this season

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The Denver Nuggets are still tied for the most wins in the Western Conference even without their star point guard, Jamal Murray. This is because Jokic has not dropped his production even a little. Most often, big men find it difficult to create their own shot and be as impactful in a game without a point guard.

But Jokic does not need that. He is a point center who can bring the ball up the court and give pin-point passes to his teammates. He is currently averaging 27.4 PPG and 13.1 RPG, which are both career highs, and 8.7 APG. Jokic is just 28 years old, has already won a championship, and also has two MVPs to his name.

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As the accolades keep racking up, it is not long before we consider him among the greatest players in NBA history.

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Written by

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Rijin Varghese

687 Articles

Rijin is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports. Specializing in the technical aspects of the game, keeps a close eye on the three principles of coaching of Gregg Popovich: Humility, Discipline, and Determination. That same attention to detail made him a big fan of the reigning Finals MVP Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. While Rijin did not follow the traditional route to become a journalist, his passion for basketball and writing brought him to ES.

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Caroline Joseph

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