OKC Thunder Guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Making his Mark in MVP Race
In this story:
Guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s jump from a fringe All-Star player that got snubbed to a legitimate All-NBA player has been huge for the Oklahoma City Thunder this season.
At 30.9 points per game on the season, the 6-foot-6 guard is fourth in scoring in the NBA right now.
When the Thunder traded Paul George away and received their prized pick in Gilgeous-Alexander, they would have been pleased to know that he would be atop the NBA’s best scorers in time for the Thunder to flip from their rebuilding phase to competing phase.
However, with no All-Star nods this far into his career, how highly regarded is the Kentucky product as an MVP candidate. Of course, he has the nod from his fan base, and even teammates.
“Yeah I heard them. We gotta chill. For Shai, it makes sense. It was still a cool moment for sure,” Jalen Williams said laughingly about his MVP chants.
Now, it’s hard for Gilgeous-Alexander to make his way into the serious MVP conversations, as his team is the 13th seeded team in the Western Conference. In the most recent MVP Ladder from NBA.com, he was listed just outside of the top ten candidates.
With the calendar year flipping into 2023, Gigleous-Alexander will have to lead his team to plenty more wins for him to enter the MVP race as a real contender.
Oftentimes when the Thunder match up against the team with an MVP candidate, Gilgeous-Alexander outplays the other opponent and proves why he’s receiving so much attention this season.
Though the MVP award seems like a far off shot for Gilgeous-Alexander, he leads the sportsbooks in the Most Valuable Player award race, and he’s projected to be an All-Star in some fashion, even as a reserve.
Nonetheless, hearing positive buzz around the league is a big jump from last season, where Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t receive much respect for his play and was oftentimes ignored because of his games missed with injury.
Want to join the discussion? Like SI Thunder on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.
