FRIDAY FEATURE: From Nikola Jokic’s 60-point triple-double to the Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade – NBA’s most shocking moments this season

The 2024-25 NBA season has been nothing short of unforgettable and will hold a place in the history books as a true classic. From unexpected trades to ridiculous stat lines and everything in between, this campaign has certainly delivered entertainment that kept us at the edge of our seats. Read on as we at TIBS News take a deeper dive into these moments that defined the season.

Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis trade

Well, where else would we start when discussing this season’s most shocking moments? This trade may possibly be the biggest ever and is definitely the biggest one I’ve seen since being a basketball fan.

Back in February we saw the Dallas Mavericks trade their star man Luka Doncic in a straight-swap deal for the Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis. There was no drama beforehand from either of these superstars with their respective teams nor were there any rumours that the two of them wanted out, this was a complete shock.

In some aspects, this may have been seen as a like-for-like trade, superstar for superstar, but the clear winner in this trade were the Lakers. Obtaining Doncic who just last year took the Mavericks to the Finals when the team was becoming stagnant and repetitive with Davis and LeBron James, this was definitely a much-needed shake-up.

On the other end, the Mavericks got a versatile four man who can defend any position and is extremely skilled on the offensive end, but could this trade also be a win for the Mavericks? 

Well Doncic was such an integral part to the Mavericks and it seemed as if he’d be there for life so whoever replaced him would be feeling the wrath of the fans. On top of that, the idea of the duo of Davis and Kyrie Irving seemed promising and the team started to look like real contenders in the Western Conference. However, the pair only played one game together before Irving suffered a season-ending injury leaving Davis, an already injury-prone player, to carry the load for the rest of the season. 

No one really knows the reason for this trade, despite rumours of a behind the scenes fall out between Doncic and GM Nico Harrison, but all we know is that this is probably the biggest trade of all time and we got to experience it in real time.

Nikola Jokic’s 60-point triple-double 

On his quest to claim his fourth MVP award, Nikola Jokic has been putting up some pretty impressive stat lines on top of  the usual triple-doubles. But how can you produce better stats than a triple-double?

Well in the space of just a month the Serbian centre firstly dropped a stat line of 31 points, 21 rebounds and 22 assists, then followed this up with a 60-point triple-double!

Now I feel like these two performances don’t need any explanation as to why they’re so shocking but I will nonetheless go into some detail.

Firstly, that first stat line is two triple-doubles in one. Two! This has never been done before and most likely won’t be done again and it just goes to show the extent of Jokic’s skill. Only he could produce a stat line like this due to his unique play style.

I know I go on and on about his playstyle in nearly every piece that I mention him, but this first stat line is just a clear example of how well rounded and skilled he is as a player.

Now the second stat line might be the greatest achievement in a single game. A 60-point triple-double is honestly unthinkable, if you break it down, a triple-double is impressive by itself and a 60-point game puts you right up there in the single game scoring record.

Nikola Jokic is too good at basketball and continues to shock us every time he steps on to the court. 

Bronny James Jr drafted and playing with his dad

When Bronny James Jr declared for the draft, everyone had the inclination that he would be the first pick of the Lakers and go play with his dad. But as Bronny started going through the draft combine, things started to look rocky.

Well, firstly Bronny was a lot shorter than we originally thought, being believed to be around the 6ft 3in mark he was officially listed as 6ft 1in in the combine. Which may not seem like a big deal but due to his playing style being that of a slasher going to the rim, he was deemed as too small for the league.

However, the Lakers did go on to draft Bronny with their 55th pick.

Now despite coming up short on our expectations and mainly playing in the G league, where it seems to be a better fit for him and where he’s thriving, he has still made history. The first ever father-and-son duo to play on the same team. 

Now this may not seem shocking given LeBron’s somewhat GM status at every team he goes to, but the actual father and son aspect might possibly be the first and only time we see this in sports. 

Michael Malone sacked with less than a week left of the season 

Now it’s never a good time to pull the plug on a coach during the season, there’s going to be a big shift in the style of play, rotation of players and roles of the same players which will make it a struggle to implement these new ideas whilst still trying to win games. 

Now imagine this happens a week before the NBA play-offs start! 

This is exactly what happened this year when the Denver Nuggets sacked Michael Malone seemingly out of nowhere. Despite being the winningest coach in franchise history and leading the Nuggets to their first championship in over 47 years, the Denver Nuggets chief Josh Kroenke had been eyeing up this sacking for a while.

This was primarily due to an alleged environment of conflict and toxicity caused by contrasting basketballing philosophies between Malone and GM Calvin Booth. 

Now fallouts like these happen all the time but surely there was a better time to get rid of Malone and find someone more aligned with the GM’s views and not when the playoffs are about to start.

Pistons make Play-offs

After finishing last season at the bottom of the whole league with just 14 wins, no one was even looking to Detroit for a play-off appearance. Fast forward to the present day, the Detroit Pistons finished the season sixth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 44 wins and 38 losses but where has all this come from?

Tripling their wins from last year, a key reason for this is the addition of the right veterans. Acquiring players like Malik Beasley, Tobias Harris and Tim Hardaway Jr who all embraced their roles on the court allowing the young guns to go to work.

And did the young guns go to work! Cade Cunningham has made a massive leap from last year and is definitely proving his worth from when he was drafted first overall in the 2021 draft. Averaging just shy of 26 points-a-game as well as nine assists, the young guard has arguably been the most all round point guard in the Eastern Conference.

Two more young players in Ausar Thompson and Isiah Stewart have also taken this leap into excelling at their role, which has made major improvements to the overall team.

It seems as if everyone as the Detroit Pistons has just clicked into the place and are making for a remarkable comeback to their former glory. A tight first-round exit by New York Knicks shows they are going to be a force to be reckoned with in future.

From historic trades to record-breaking performances and unprecedented milestones, the 2024–25 NBA season has delivered drama in spades. If the posts=eason can match the chaos and excitement we’ve already seen, this could go down as one of the greatest terms in NBA history.

Did we miss any jaw-dropping moments? Let us know – what shocked you most this season?