Popular NBA Podcast Talks OKC Thunder Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's MVP Case
Since the Thunder moved to Oklahoma City in 2008, the team has seen two players win the NBA MVP award while in the Modern Frontier.
With the astounding season that superstar guard Shai GIlgeous-Alexander has put together thus far, OKC has a chance to see another player in Thunder blue earn the coveted Michael Jordan Trophy.
On a Feb. 25 episode of The Group Chat, a podcast on The Ringer network hosted by Justin Verrier, Rob Mahoney and Wosny Lambre, the group discussed this season's tight MVP race and Gilgeous-Alexander's chances at taking home the award.
"Last time we talked about this, ESPN did one of their straw polls, they had (Nikola) Jokic first there," Verrier said on the show.
"But I've got to say, since then, seems like the tides are turning towards SGA. Maybe they were always going to do so just because of how good (the Thunder have) been this year, but it feels like he is the frontrunner."
The trio agreed that while Gilgeous-Alexander is not yet the clear favorite to win the MVP, he has just as good of a chance as Jokic, Luka Doncic or any other candidate.
This season, Gilgeous-Alexander has tallied 31.2 points, 6.6 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game while shooting 54.8% from the field and 38% from 3-point range. Additionally, the Thunder star has helped lead his team to a 40-17 record, tied for the top record in the Western Conference.
Doncic, on the other hand, is averaging 34.3 points, 9.5 assists and 8.8 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 49.2% from the field and 38% from beyond the arc. The biggest difference, however, is that the Dallas Mavericks current sit at eighth place in the West with a veteran-laiden team.
On The Group Chat, Lambre made a different argument as to why he likes Gilgeous-Alexander's case to win the Michael Jordan Trophy.
"What I like about his MVP candidacy, it hues closer to the Jokic than the Luka and the Giannis (Antetokounmpo), where he just doesn't force anything. Everything just seems to come to him naturally, within the flow," Lambre said.
"He's not breaking plays off to go 1-on-1 and iso, he's just being, and that's the coolest thing about his MVP candidates so far. His ability to allow for the guys, although he's a very young man himself, his younger teammates to flourish and expand their games and expand what they offer to the team while still being an MVP type of guy."
Currently, Gilgeous-Alexander sits just behind Jokic on FanDuel Sportsbook's MVP odds. If the star guard is able to maintain his impressive statistics while helping lead the Thunder to one of the top seeds in the Western Conference, however, SGA will have a good chance at becoming the third player in OKC's history to take home the MVP award.
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