Nikola Jokić in Good Company

With his quiet demeanor and his love of horses, Nikola Jokić may not be be your average NBA superstar, but in terms of the numbers he puts on the board night after night, he’s certainly up there with the best of them. On Monday, Jokić became only the 11th player in NBA history to average 30+ points in a successful NBA Finals series, joining all-time greats like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant or fellow big man Shaquille O’Neal in doing so.

The Nuggets center averaged 30.2 points, 14.0 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game in the Finals series that saw the Nuggets defeat the Miami Heat 4-1. His Finals performance rounds off an MVP-worthy playoff run for the 28-year-old Serb, who became the first player to reach 500+ points, 250+ rebounds and 100+ assists in a single postseason campaign. One of his best performances came in Game 3 of the Finals, when Jokić contributed 32 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists to lead his team to a 2-1 lead after their only loss in the series. It was the first 30-20-10 triple-double in Finals history delivered at a crucial moment.

In a unanimous vote, Jokić was named Finals MVP on Monday, taking home the Bill Russel Trophy along with his first championship ring. When asked how it feels to be NBA champion, Jokić responded in typical manner. “It’s good, it’s good,” he said in an on-court interview. “The job is done, we can go home now.” And he meant it. After all, one of his horses has a race on Sunday.