All-NBA Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has emerged as one of the best players at his position in the league this season, while leading his club to a 50-21 record thus far, plus the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. For his efforts, he has also become a top contender for Most Valuable Player honors this spring.
According to FanDuel, SGA currently boasts the second-strongest odds of nabbing the award this season (+1100), behind only two-time MVP Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (-1100). All-NBA Dallas Mavericks combo guard Luka Doncic (+1800 odds), All-NBA Milwaukee Bucks power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (+9000) and All-NBA Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum round out the top five contenders behind Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander.
While appearing on Tuesday night's "NBA on TNT" slate of wraparound programming, 15-time All-Star center-turned-broadcaster Shaquille O'Neal explained why he felt that Gilgeous-Alexander, not Jokic, was worthy of this year's MVP. He made a fairly salient agrument.
“The MVP is SGA. Period. … He’s the baddest player in the game and their team is 49-21.”@SHAQ has his pick for MVP 👀 pic.twitter.com/nPbCZGouob
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) March 26, 2024
"The MVP is SGA, period," Shaq said. "I saw something today, he's one of the few guys that have [logged] 50 30-point games in a season. And he meets my criteria and everybody else's criteria. He's the baddest player in the game, and their team is 49-21, and Denver is 51-21. So, you can't give it to the Joker [Nikola Jokic]."
"Nobody's doing more than SGA," O'Neal added.
Across 69 contests this year, the Kentucky product is averaging 30.5 points on .541/.367/.872 shooting splits, 6.3 assists, 5.6 rebounds, 2.1 steals and 0.9 blocks. In 69 Denver contests, Jokic is averaging 26.1 points on .581/.354/.826 shooting splits, along with 12.3 rebounds, nine assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.9 blocks a night.
Elsewhere on the panel, former three-time Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford also argued in favor of Gilgeous-Alexander. Last year (his first All-Star season), Gilgeous-Alexander finished fifth in league MVP voting. Eventual winner Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers notched his first MVP award that spring (he's currently hurt, and has missed too many games to garner much consideration for the award), besting second-place finisher Jokic (the Nuggets center went on to win his first NBA title and the Finals MVP in 2023, so he essentially got the last laugh) in the process.
Gilgeous-Alexander's Thunder and Jokic's Nuggets are currently locked in a bit of a cage match for bragging rights and homecourt advantage throughout the West playoffs.
Having won a whopping nine of their last ten games, Jokic currently occupies pole position in the West. Butries in nine of their last ten games, currently occupies pole position in the conference. But the Thunder are just 0.5 games behind New Orleans. With just 11 games remaining
Denver, riding high on a four-contest win streak, appears to be rounding into form at precisely the right time. The reigning title winner will face a Thunder team who, though it's afraid of no one, is in for a bit of a surprise when it faces off against top frontcourt pieces in the West.
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