Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named NBA MVP over Nikola Jokić on Wednesday in one of the most debated and contested MVP races in recent memory, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
The MVP is the first for Gilgeous-Alexander, who led the Oklahoma City Thunder to the NBA’s best record as the league’s leading scorer. Gilgeous-Alexander finished in the top five of MVP voting in the previous two seasons as a first-team All-NBA selection.
Now, at 26 years, he’s claimed the league’s top individual honor as his own and etched his name alongside the greats of NBA history. Voting tallies for the award are not yet known. An official announcement is expected on Wednesday afternoon.
In 76 regular-season games, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged a league-best 32.7 points alongside 6.4 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game while shooting 51.9% from the field and 37.5% on 5.7 3-point attempts per game. He was a standout on defense who averaged 1.7 steals and one block per game for a team that led the NBA in defensive rating with 106.6 points allowed per 100 possessions.
He did all of this during a dominant season for the Thunder in which they clinched the No. 1 seed in the West on March 20 with 13 games remaining on their regular-season schedule. Oklahoma City finished the regular season at 68-14, 16 games ahead of the second-place Houston Rockets (52-30) in the West and four games ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who finished the season with the NBA’s second-best record (64-18).
Gilgeous-Alexander’s package of excellence on both sides of the ball for the NBA’s best team ultimately compelled voters to award him his first MVP and deny Jokić his fourth.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has secured his first career NBA MVP award. (Luke Hales/Getty Images)
(Luke Hales via Getty Images)
SGA’s MVP case vs. Jokić’s
Jokić, who won three of the previous four NBA MVPs, made a strong case for his fourth with a campaign that stands as one of the greatest individual statistical season in NBA history.
In 70 regular-season games, Jokić averaged 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds, 10.2 assists, 1.8 steals and 0.6 blocks while shooting 57.6% from the floor and 41.7% on 4.7 3-point attempts per game. Jokić joined Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook as the only players in NBA history to average a triple-double for a full season.
Jokić also rated elite in advanced metrics and finished the season with the fourth-highest player efficiency rating (PER) in NBA history (32.04), trailing only his 2021-22 MVP self (32.85), 1961-62 Wilt Chamberlain (32.08) and 2021-22 Giannis Antetokounmpo (32.05).
Gilgeous-Alexander also rated well with the 25th best PER in league history (30.66), but his PER profile didn’t match up with Jokić’s. He did edge Jokić in win shares per 48 minutes, another advanced statistical profile that’s given considerable weight in evaluating individual performances.
Gilgeous-Alexander led the league the league with .309 win shares per 48 minutes, just ahead ofJokić’s .307. Cleveland’s Jarrett Allen finished a distant third with .243, while MVP finalist Antetokounmpo finished with .241.
Who was more valuable?
For a seventh straight season, Jokić led a Nuggets team without another All-Star into the playoffs as the No. 4 seed in the West with a 50-32 record. The Nuggets were a completely different team with Jokić off the floor. With Jokić on the court, Denver outscored its opponents by 594 points. Without Jokić, opponents outscored the Nuggets by 275.
By comparison, a superior Thunder team outscored opponents with Gilgeous-Alexander on the court by an overwhelming 918 points. The Thunder were still better without Gilgeous-Alexander and outscored opponents by 137 points when he was on the bench.
Ultimately, Gilgeous-Alexander was the best player on the league’s best team and the league’s leading scorer. And that proved to be enough for voters to separate Gilgeous-Alexander from Jokić in an MVP debate that won’t end because the trophy’s been handed out.
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