Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been otherworldly this season.
For the skilled guard, scoring 30-plus points looks as easy as chewing gum, and he’s already compiled quite an impressive highlight reel midway through the season.
Given his superb individual stats and Oklahoma City’s standing atop the Western Conference, Gilgeous-Alexander should be the front-runner for the Most Valuable Player award.
“To me, he’s unguardable,” Anthony Edwards said, per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. “As far as any one-on-one matchup, yeah, you can go on and give it up. Just give him two points most of the time. So I think you got to trap him. Maybe that don’t work, but you got to try it. For sure you got to send a second body, especially if he got a favorable matchup. Anytime he got somebody that he knows can’t guard him, he’s going to score every time.”
“[He’s] the NBA MVP,” Edwards said.
So far this season, Gilgeous-Alexander is tied for first in the NBA in points per game (31.4) and leads the league in total points (1,192). He is also one of just two players with 20-plus games with 30-plus points, doing so a league-high 22 times this season.
“I feel like I’m flowing,” Gilgeous-Alexander said, per MacMahon. “The game is just coming [naturally]. I’m not pressing. I’m not thinking. I’m just out there hooping.”
Against all competitors, Gilgeous-Alexander has scored in bunches and found ways to win. Spearheaded by his MVP-caliber play, the Thunder rattled off a franchise-record 15-game winning streak this season. During that span, the Thunder collected wins over the Celtics, Knicks and Rockets, who are all top-three seeds in their respective conferences.
With the potential to clinch this year’s scoring title and his team on pace to secure the No. 1 seed, Gilgeous-Alexander should be the clear front-runner for MVP this season.
Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo deserve to be in the conversation, too, but the Thunder guard has even outpaced his All-NBA peers. This season still has a lot left to give, but by the end, it should surprise no one if Gilgeous-Alexander is named the NBA MVP.
Despite the standout individual brilliance from last season’s All-NBA first-team guard, the Thunder superstar does not believe himself to be the NBA MVP just yet. Should he continue his torrid pace this season, though, Gilgeous-Alexander wouldn’t be opposed to receiving the prestigious award.
“MVPs are never won after 40 games. 40 more of these and yeah, sure,” the Thunder guard said, via Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman.