The NBA MVP race has been louder than ever in recent days. Victor Wembanyama presents a three-pronged public case for the award, and JJ Redick lobbies for Luka Doncic. Amidst the noise, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got his own chance to weigh in on Monday night.
What did he do? He took a rather different route.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Passes on MVP Campaign After Masterful Performance Against Pistons
Moments after drilling the finishing touches on a 114-110 overtime victory over the Eastern Conference’s first-place team, Gilgeous-Alexander was asked directly to make his case for a second consecutive MVP award. He grinned and declined. “Nah, I’m good. Thanks for asking, though. I let my game do the talking,” he said.
He then acknowledged the broader conversation with characteristic composure. “I think it’s good for the league. I think it’s good chatter. It gives people something to talk about. There’s a lot of good players in this league and a lot of guys in the conversation because of that.”
The performance that preceded those words was as emphatic an argument as any speech could have been. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 47 points, five rebounds, and three assists, shooting 12 of 19 from the field and 21 of 25 from the free-throw line.
He scored or assisted on all but one of Oklahoma City’s baskets after checking back in with 6:57 remaining in the fourth quarter, personally overseeing a comeback from a seven-point deficit. He then scored eight of the Thunder’s 13 points in overtime to seal the win.
The game nearly ended in regulation on an even more dramatic note. Gilgeous-Alexander swished what appeared to be a go-ahead, step-back 3-pointer with 4 seconds left, only for the officials to rule it an offensive foul for pushing off. The call was rare and, notably, one that even Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff agreed with.
“He’s elite at what he does. There’s rules for a reason, and he’s mastered to manipulate them. That’s a talent, that’s a skill that he’s been blessed with. Twenty-five free throws. We shot 23. That’s hard to overcome,” Bickerstaff said.
Thunder forward Alex Caruso put it plainly in the postgame. “Just watch the games. He got a game winner against the No. 1 seed in the East called off tonight and had 47. His game does a lot of talking. Not much I need to say for him.”
Gilgeous-Alexander’s Numbers Make the Strongest Case of All
Gilgeous-Alexander’s refusal to campaign stands in deliberate contrast to Wembanyama, who recently declared, “I’m trying to make sure that at the end of the season, there’s no debate.”
The Spurs star is averaging 24.2 points, 11.2 rebounds, and a league-leading 3.1 blocks per game. Doncic, meanwhile, has publicly said it would be nice to win the award, expressing confusion over falling as low as fourth in some rankings despite a historic season.
SGA, by contrast, simply keeps producing. He is averaging 31.6 points on a career-best 55.3% shooting, 6.5 assists, and 4.4 rebounds per game, leading the Thunder to a 60-16 record, the first team in the league to reach the 60-win mark this season and the first in franchise history to post back-to-back 60-win campaigns.
Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault summed up his team’s approach to the race as succinctly as Gilgeous-Alexander himself. “He goes out there, he plays, he focuses on what he can control, he stays inside the team… and then the chips fall where they may.”
