This season, Shai Gilegous-Alexander is the front-runner to win the NBA MVP award, narrowly beating out Nikola Jokic. One could argue that voters are simply sick of Jokic, giving SGA an advantage, but Gilgeous-Alexander is leading the NBA with 33 points per game and is the best player on the best team in the best conference.
That argument makes enough sense to us.
Gilgeous-Alexander is the most consistent high-volume scorer this season, and he has taken it up a notch since the calendar flipped over to March. Through seven games, he is averaging 38.6 points per game and has scored less than 30 points in only one of those games.
In January 2019, James Harden averaged 43.6 points per game, and SGA is on the way to be in the same ballpark
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander this month:
38.6 PPG
6.9 APG
2.6 STL + BLK
56/44/97%
On pace to have the highest scoring month in the NBA since James Harden in 2019. pic.twitter.com/xIg1X5SLS6
— StatMamba (@StatMamba) March 16, 2025
It should come as no surprise that the six highest-scoring months (with a minimum of ten games played) all belong to Wilt Chamberlain. In December of 1961, across 18 games, Wilt averaged 52.4 points per game. Harden is seventh on that list, and SGA could become the third non-Chamberlain player to average even close to 40 points over a real month, not just with a few games played.
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The league hasn't seen scoring of this volume in the 21st century outside of Harden and Kobe Bryant. While it's easy to say that Jokic is a more complete offensive player (and I wouldn't argue with that!), SGA might be the best pure scorer in recent memory and is in the midst of a historic season.
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This story was originally published March 16, 2025 at 2:19 PM.