ESPN analyst Zach Kram looks into four stars’ scorching stats and weighs how they could impact the 2025-26 MVP race.
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic has three MVP wins and two runner-up finishes across the past five NBA campaigns. So, it’s saying a lot that he’s having the best statistical start of his much-celebrated career in 2025-26.
He’s averaging 29.6 points, 12.8 rebounds and 11.1 assists through 17 games this season, with league-leading marks in the latter two categories. He is making 70% of his 2-point attempts and 43% of his 3s, and he has triple-doubles in more than half of his outings, all while keeping the 13-4 Nuggets high in the crowded Western Conference standings.
But it’s not just Jokic. While the Nuggets big man is on pace to shatter his own record in single-season player efficiency rating (PER), two other MVP winners — the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — also are eclipsing that mark.
Among 96 players in NBA history who have averaged at least 30 points per game in a season, according to Stathead, Jokic, Gilgeous-Alexander and Antetokounmpo currently rank first, second and fourth, respectively, in true shooting percentage as of Monday morning. Only Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry’s 2015-16 season — when he won the only unanimous MVP in league history — breaks up the 2025-26 trio’s sweep of the top spots.
As their superb seasons continue, let’s examine the scorching stats for Jokic, Antetokounmpo, Gilgeous-Alexander and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Luka Doncic, plus what these hot starts might mean for the developing 2025-26 MVP race:
Jump to topic:
Jokic’s splendid start
Historic ascensions of SGA, Giannis, Luka
MVP race ramifications
To place Jokic’s start in context, I’ll first use a statistic designed to measure production in a small sample: game score, which encapsulates a player’s entire box score in a single number. Game scores have been tracked since the 1983-84 season, rewarding players for positive contributions (such as points, steals and assists) while penalizing them for negative statistics (including missed shots and turnovers). The final number is roughly on the same scale as points — so a game score above 30 is great, a game score of 20 is good and so on.
Wednesday, Nov. 26
Pistons at Celtics, 5 p.m.
Timberwolves at Thunder, 7:30 p.m.
Rockets at Warriors, 10 p.m.
All times Eastern
Jokic’s average game score this season is 31.8, the highest for any player on record through 17 games. Jokic also set the previous record of 30.5 last season; before that, it belonged to Michael Jordan from his 1988-89 campaign.
Jokic’s 2023-24 season also places him fifth on the game score leaderboard through 17 games. In other words, Jokic’s past three campaigns represent three of the five best starts to a season for any player since game score was first tracked.
One reason for Jokic’s extraordinary game score average is his efficiency, because he doesn’t face many penalties for missed shots. Consider his astonishing 70% mark on 2-pointers, for example: The previous 2-point percentage record for players with at least 10 attempts per game was Wilt Chamberlain’s 68% in 1966-67. (Here too, Jokic has two other seasons in the top five of this leaderboard.)
Jokic’s raw numbers also lift him in the game score leaderboard. His averages of 29.
