Kevin Durant praises Nikola Jokic for historic game, talks MVP

Mar 8, 2025, 2:10 AM

Denver Sports Analyst

DENVER—There were plenty of basketball legends at Ball Arena to watch Nikola Jokic achieve the first-ever 30-point, 20-rebound, 20-assist game in NBA history, including a hoops icon who has always been extremely complementary of the Joker.

Two-time Finals MVP and 15-time All-Star Kevin Durant has made a lot of NBA history and is one of the greatest players ever—he was left with few words after his Phoenix Suns lost 149-141 in overtime to the Denver Nuggets. What the NBA’s eighth-best scorer ever was left with was a ton of praise for Jokic. And that’s not too uncommon for the Slim Reaper, who had a big voice in Mike Singer’s Why So Serious book about the Joker.

“He’s a simple ball player,” Durant told Singer in the book. “He’s not into the glitz and glamour, not into the showmanship of the game, it’s just all about getting it done. Taking efficient shots, playing off his teammates. I just love how he plays games.”

Durant likely didn’t love it on Friday as Jokic spoiled his buzzer-beating equalizer to send the game to overtime and perhaps build some badly needed positive momentum for the Suns.

“There’s so many possessions in a game, the whole offense is centered around him making a play. I’m actually surprised he hasn’t done this before, but he’s been so close, he’s an all-time great, all-time great,” Durant said on Friday night. “Crazy thing is he didn’t seem like it he had those numbers. I looked up at the end over the overtime and was like, ‘oh shoot, that’s crazy.’ I feel like we made him work for most of his stuff tonight. But he gets the ball every play, so the numbers are going to pile up after a while, especially when it goes to overtime.”

Jokic, who already has achieved the fastest triple-double in NBA history, recorded a triple-double in 20:38 of playing time tonight, which is the ninth fastest ever. Of course, he went on to get a second triple-double after this, becoming the first player to get a triple-double in each half of his minutes.

“There’s different ways to do it,” Durant said in the book about Jokic’s game. “Mike did it his way, Kobe did it his way, Joker does it his way, and I do it my way.”

Jokic finished with 31 points on 13-of-22 shooting, 3-of-7 from three, and 2-of-3 from the line as he snagged 21 rebounds and dished out a career-high 22 assists. It was the second-most assists in Nuggets history to Fat Lever’s 23, who was in the house to be celebrated as a franchise icon. But nobody who has played hoops in the Mile High City is as iconic as Jokic, and this may go down as his most legendary game. It was a career high for helpers, topping his mark of 19 he set earlier this season, which passes Wilt Chamberlain for most by a center in league history. The occasion was just the third-ever 20-20-20 game, joining Wilt and Russell Westbrook—let alone the extra 10 points. And Jokic now ties Oscar Robertson with 15 times of reaching 15-15-15.

“He’s anall-timee great you’re not going to take nothing away from him. He averages that for a reason. Just playing hard, and we can live with him hitting shots when we’re playing hard. He’s just Jokic; he makes shots,” Durant said after the loss. “I’m not saying any part of his game is weak or we’re living with anything. Players like that, you just gotta play hard and see what happens.”

Jokic is seeking a fourth MVP, which some will say the Nuggets center was already robbed of, and should be chasing a fifth. Still, only Chamberlain, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have claimed the award at least four times—meaning Jokic would more or less cement himself as a top 10 player in the history of hoops. He’s behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the race, going into two games between the Nuggets and Thunder in the coming days.

“He’s not an underdog, I’m not going to keep letting you do that, he’s never an underdog in any situation—stop. Never an underdog again, that was out the window with his first MVP,” Durant said on Friday. “I don’t think that’s fair at all, voter fatigue. If a guy is balling out, he’s balling out. I’m glad I don’t have to make that decision between him and Shai, but there shouldn’t be voter fatigue. Both of those guys have a great chance at the MVP, it’ll be a race down to the wire.