Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has had great performances all season. The addition of Chet Holmgren and the promotion of Jaylen Williams helped the Thunder turn the corner and rise to the No. 1 seed, but nothing will happen without Gilgeous-Alexander playing superstar-level basketball. It doesn't happen. His rapid rise has greatly accelerated Oklahoma City's rebuild, and now the team is back in contention.
He averaged over 30 points per game for the second consecutive season and just brought two-way consistency and made a difference defensively. He averaged 30.1 points, 6.2 assists, and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 53.5 percent from the floor. He also tied for the league lead in stolen bases with 2.0 per game.
NBA analyst Chris Mannix joined other media members to make a convincing case for Gilgeous-Alexander to be the league's MVP.
“This is a player who was on a team last year that was a lottery team, and he took them to a No. 1 seed and did something offensively that we've never seen before,” Mannix said.Since then michael jordan's Beat season, since Mr. Stephen Curry MVP season. And one of the more important differentiators that I use with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is that he's a two-way player.He's in the top 10 or top 12 in defensive win shares, but you have to go a little further down to find that. Nikola Jokicfind further below Luka Doncic —Not a better-than-average defensive player.
Jokic appears to have the upper hand heading into the playoffs. SGA appears to be in second place, but leading the Thunder to the top seed could change some voters' minds. Doncic had an incredible season, but his team was nowhere near the top three and he played with out-of-this-world talent. Kyrie Irving.
Even if Jokic took home that honor, it would have been a special season for Gilgeous-Alexander, earning him his second straight All-NBA First Team honor.
“All three of those guys put up great numbers, but Shai's success with the team was nowhere near last year and the fact that he's the best two-way player on this team,” Mannix explained. . That gave him a slight edge in my vote. ”
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