{"id":8820,"date":"2025-03-13T11:23:43","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T11:23:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/?p=8820"},"modified":"2025-03-18T12:03:17","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T12:03:17","slug":"shai-gilgeous-alexander-for-mvp-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.365scores.com\/news\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-for-mvp-2025","title":{"rendered":"Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for MVP 2024-25: Why OKC&#8217;s Explosive PG Deserves It"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Who is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/basketball\/league\/nba-103\">NBA<\/a>&#8216;s Most Valuable Player this season? Of course, that&#8217;s an impossible question to answer with most teams having over 15 games left to play, but a basic idea can certainly be drawn out at this point. Considering all of the league&#8217;s best, this prediction is not an easy one to make, but here is why <a href=\"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/basketball\/player\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-64164\">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/basketball\/team\/oklahoma-city-thunder-1330\">Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a>, as of right now, deserves the MVP award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-rank-math-toc-block\" id=\"rank-math-toc\"><nav><ul><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#shai-gilgeous-alexanders-season-in-perspective\">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander&#8217;s Season in Perspective<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#the-opponent-nikola-jokic\">The Opponent: Nikola Jokic<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#why-shai\">Why Shai?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#i\">It Ain&#8217;t Over &#8216;Til it&#8217;s Over<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"shai-gilgeous-alexanders-season-in-perspective\">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander&#8217;s Season in Perspective<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>First, the obvious. Gilgeous-Alexander leads the league, averaging 32.7 points per game, two points above second-place Giannis Antetokounmpo. It&#8217;s no secret that he is far and away the best scorer in the NBA. This month, he has had three consecutive games scoring 40+ points, including a 51-point performance on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/basketball\/match\/nba-103\/houston-rockets-oklahoma-city-thunder-1319-1330-103#id=4207161\">March 4th<\/a> vs. the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/basketball\/team\/houston-rockets-1319\">Rockets<\/a>. Since 2025 began, he has had four 50+ performances, the most of anyone in the NBA in that timespan. He is also shooting 53% from the field and 37% from three. Shooting aside, he is averaging 5.1 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.8 steals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While it is well-known and has been even further established this season that Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the best players in the NBA, the MVP award is ultimately about the impact a player has on his team and the value he provides. As for Gilgeous-Alexander, not only is the value he provides incredibly obvious to anyone watching the games, but he is also second in the league with 8.0 VORP (Value Over Replacement Player).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Personal statistics aside, he has led the Thunder to a dominant Western Conference-leading 54-12 record thus far, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/basketball\/match\/nba-103\/boston-celtics-oklahoma-city-thunder-1300-1330-103#id=4207227\">on Wednesday<\/a> they became the second team in the league to clinch a spot in the playoffs (the first were the East-leading <a href=\"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/basketball\/team\/cleveland-cavaliers-1303\">Cavs<\/a>, who boast a 55-10 record). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Thunder are a great team altogether, but there&#8217;s no doubt that Gilgeous-Alexander has led them to where they are right now. He leads the team in nearly every statistical category, including points, assists, steals, and blocks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-opponent-nikola-jokic\">The Opponent: Nikola Jokic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Nobody said Gilgeous-Alexander&#8217;s MVP race would be easy. As deserving as he is, he will ultimately have to go up against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/basketball\/player\/nikola-jokic-53646\">Nikola Jokic<\/a> for the prized award. At first glance, it might seem like Jokic deserves the award. Although he is third in the league in points behind Gilgeous-Alexander and Antetokounmpo, Jokic is third in the league with 13.0 rebounds and second in the league with 10.5 assists. Gilgeous-Alexander, on the other hand, is not in the top ten in either category. As for the VORP stat mentioned earlier, Gilgeous-Alexander is second to- you guessed it- Jokic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-1245253303-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Nikola Jokic, MVP contender rival of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander\" class=\"wp-image-8829\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"> (Photo by Ric Tapia\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The race is incredibly close in every way, including head-to-head performance. On March 9th and 10th, the Nuggets and the Thunder played back-to-back games against each other, with fans hoping for more clarity on the MVP race seeing Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokic face off against each other for two consecutive days. In reality, the matchups just made things more complicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/basketball\/match\/nba-103\/denver-nuggets-oklahoma-city-thunder-1323-1330-103#id=4207202\">the first game<\/a>, the Thunder won 127-103. Gilgeous-Alexander shined with a 40-point performance, along with five assists and eight rebounds, while on the other side, Jokic put up 24 with nine assists and 13 rebounds. Gilgeous-Alexander&#8217;s 40-point performance led the Thunder, while Jokic&#8217;s 24 shared the Nuggets lead with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/basketball\/player\/michael-porter-jr.-71468\">Michael Porter Jr.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/basketball\/match\/nba-103\/denver-nuggets-oklahoma-city-thunder-1323-1330-103#id=4207215\">game two<\/a> the next day, the Nuggets got their revenge in a 140-127 victory. Jokic led Denver in scoring with 35 points and in addition, recorded eight assists and 18 rebounds. Gilgeous-Alexander, with 25 points, was second in Thunder scoring to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/basketball\/player\/luguentz-dort-71725\">Luguentz Dort<\/a>&#8216;s 26. Gilgeous-Alexander additionally put up seven assists and three rebounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No matter how you view it, this MVP race is going to be neck and neck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"why-shai\">Why Shai?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The season, of course, isn&#8217;t over yet. The MVP race between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic is still playing itself out, and things can change drastically by the end of the season. For now, our pick is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As close as the head-to-head matchups were, a crucial aspect is the standings. As previously mentioned, the Thunder lead the Western Conference with a 54-12 record. The Nuggets sit at 42-24, an entire 12 games behind the Thunder. Oklahoma City is the better team, and comparing Gilgeous-Alexander at their helm to Jokic at Denver&#8217;s, it&#8217;s sensible to pick the leader of the better team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Statistically speaking, there are categories where Jokic leads Gilgeous-Alexander, but other than VORP, an advanced stat usually overlooked, there is nothing he outright leads. He still is second to Trae Young in assists and third in rebounds behind <a href=\"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/basketball\/player\/domantas-sabonis-53454\">Domantas Sabonis<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/basketball\/player\/karl-anthony-towns-53710\">Karl-Anthony Towns<\/a>. Gilgeous-Alexander, on the other hand, dominates the scoring category. Points are probably the most valued stat in basketball, and it is a tremendous help to Gilgeous-Alexander&#8217;s case that he leads the league in them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"i\">It Ain&#8217;t Over &#8216;Til it&#8217;s Over<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This couldn&#8217;t be stressed enough: There&#8217;s still a month left in the season. Things can change, and the picture can be completely different by the end of the season. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the pick for now, but anything can happen in a month of basketball. As the regular season comes to a close, the last month should be exciting both for those following the MVP race and the playoff race.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Who is the NBA&#8216;s Most Valuable Player this season? Of course, that&#8217;s an impossible question to answer with most teams having over 15 games left to play, but a basic idea can certainly be drawn out at this point. Considering all of the league&#8217;s best, this prediction is not an easy one to make, but &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":8823,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[173,1990,1037,44,772,1741,3264,829,394],"class_list":["post-8820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","tag-basketball","tag-jokic","tag-mvp","tag-nba","tag-nikola-jokic","tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","tag-sga","tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","tag-thunder"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}