The NBA likes to showcase its stars on Christmas Day and two players had memorable games in 2022’s edition of the spectacle. Nikola Jokic put up a rare 41-15-15 line while Draymond Green’s 3-13-13 was even rarer.
It’s been a week of impressive lines for the reigning league MVP. On Dec. 18, Jokic had 40 points, 27 rebounds and 10 assists, a line not seen since Wilt Chamberlain in 1968. He had an elegant 13-13-13 against Memphis, and then fell two rebounds short of a quadruple-triple-double week when he had 29 points, 11 assists, and only eight rebounds against Portland.
For the eight-day stretch, Jokic averaged 30.8 points, 15.8 rebounds and 12.5 assists as Denver won all four games and took over first place in the Western Conference.
Draymond’s feat was stranger, and rarer.
Charles Oakley scored two points while grabbing 13 rebounds and dishing 15 assists back in Dec. 1986 – we can assume a lot of those dimes went to Michael Jordan, who scored 44 points. Or, as Oakley would say, he and MJ combined for 46 points.
In 1967, Wilt Chamberlain had 18 rebounds and 13 assists against his former team, the San Francisco Warriors, and didn’t attempt a single shot. He finished with one point, after splitting his only two free throws.
Draymond has achieved this before, in the legendary Warriors-Thunder game from Feb. 2016 where Steph Curry made 12 three-pointers, including a deep game-winner in overtime.
The difference is that Draymond also added a technical foul, making him the only player with a 3-13-13-1 in NBA history. Yes, there have been other big men who can pass and rebound at an elite level. But only Draymond Green can combine it with elite-level yelling and not scoring.
