James was once hailed as the most versatile player in history, capable of scoring, defending, organizing, and rebounding. However, with the evolution of the game, more and more players have adopted the ball-dominant core style of play, and there are also more and more all-around superstars. Taking the younger generation as an example, Harden, Westbrook, Doncic, and Jokic all possess versatility that is not inferior to James. Among them, Jokic is currently the top player in the league, with great strength and a penchant for triple-doubles. Can Jokic break Westbrook's record of being the king of triple-doubles in NBA history? Comparing their triple-double counts at age 29, the gap is quite significant.
First, let's talk about Westbrook, who is an all-around warrior without a doubt. As the draft pick of 2008, Westbrook showed strong versatility from the moment he entered the league. In his rookie season, he could average 15+5+5. By his third year, Westbrook had already averaged 22 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists, with his passing skills beginning to emerge. He is the most explosive point guard in history, unstoppable when he charges forward, and also very sharp at grabbing rebounds.
After reaching his peak, Westbrook won titles as the scoring champion and assist leader. After Durant joined the Warriors, Westbrook became the team's leader and led the team single-handedly, with unlimited shooting rights. In the 16-17 season, Westbrook averaged a triple-double with 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 10.4 assists, creating history. Since then, Westbrook has remained an all-around warrior, repeatedly averaging a triple-double for the season, gradually becoming the historical triple-double king. At age 29, Westbrook was still playing for the Thunder, which was in 2018, and he was still the league's assist leader. At that time, he had played a total of 748 games and recorded 104 triple-doubles.
Now let's look at Jokic, the face of the NBA in this era. Jokic is very special; he is the only organizing center in history. Although he is over 2.1 meters tall, Jokic has high basketball IQ, solid fundamentals, broad passing vision, and is also a passing master. The tactical engine of the Nuggets is Jokic, and almost all tactics initiation and transition cannot do without him. Taking this season as an example, Jokic can average an impressive 30.1 points, 13.2 rebounds, and 9.9 assists, with all three stats ranking in the top three in the league, making his influence incredibly strong.
Today's Jokic can easily achieve a triple-double in just one game. Looking at his career so far, he has played a total of 711 games, 37 fewer than Westbrook at the same stage. He averages 21.4 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 7.1 assists per game, and has already recorded 148 triple-doubles, far exceeding Westbrook at the same stage.
At the same age of 29, Westbrook had 104 triple-doubles, while Jokic had 148 triple-doubles, a huge difference. Jokic's proportion of triple-doubles in games is much higher, so if he continues to perform like this, Jokic is likely to become the new historical triple-double king in the future.