On Monday evening, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continued his historic season with a 51-point explosion in the Oklahoma City Thunder's home win over the Houston Rockets. It was the fourth straight win for an Oklahoma City squad that is currently running away with the Western Conference, up 10.5 games on the second place Los Angeles Lakers as the season enters its home stretch.
The Thunder's dominance, combined with Gilgeous-Alexander's individual excellence, have propelled him to the center of the MVP discussion, an award he narrowly missed out on a season ago.
One person who seems to be in favor of the multi-time All-Star winning the award this year is Hall of Fame point guard Steve Nash, per Josh Donaldson of Flashscore.
“I would say Shai right now for me is, I think he's the MVP this year. I think he's just an incredible leader for his team, with great high character, 30 points a game, high efficiency—almost impossible to defend in isolation,” said Nash.
Will SGA win the MVP?
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) drives to the baskets against Houston Rockets guard Aaron Holiday (0) during the second half at Paycom Center.
Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
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Although he faces stiff competition in Nikola Jokic, who is putting together the best season of his own future Hall of Fame career, it would appear that Gilgeous-Alexander is currently the frontrunner to take home his first NBA MVP award.
The Thunder have been a juggernaut since the moment this season began, and Gilgeous-Alexander has had no problem integrating new pieces like Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso into the fray while maintaining his own individual dominance on a nightly basis.
Perhaps the most underrated part of Gilgeous-Alexander's game is his defense, as he has turned himself into one of the better on-ball perimeter defenders in the league and is a big part of the reason why Oklahoma City is in first in basically every key defensive metric.
Still, the postseason is where the money is made, and Gilgeous-Alexander will be hoping that some of his teammates, particularly Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, put together a better performance than they did on the playoff stage a year ago.
In any case, the Thunder will next take the court on Wednesday evening on the road vs the Memphis Grizzlies.