Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander lost the NBA MVP Award to Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic last season, and as expected, the Toronto native wasn't all too pleased.
According to Sam Amick of The Athletic, Gilgeous-Alexander was "disappointed" that he came in second place in the 2024 NBA MVP voting.
"As one person close to Gilgeous-Alexander shared, he was (not surprisingly) disappointed last season when he took second in MVP voting behind the Denver Nuggets' Nikola Jokic," Amick wrote. "Not only had he averaged 30.1 points, 6.2 assists, five rebounds and two steals - marks previously reached by just five other players - but also he did it on the West's top team. The advice that was given by the confidante at the time, while wise, was easier said than done: Just go do it again."
It looks like Gilgeous-Alexander used his second-place MVP finish as motivation, as the Thunder star is putting up better numbers this season.
SGA is averaging 32.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.4 assists for OKC this season while shooting 52.2% from the field, 37.5% from beyond the arc and 90.1% from the free-throw line.
Not only do the Thunder have the best record in the NBA, but Gilgeous-Alexander also leads the league in total points and points per game.
Gilgeous-Alexander has a comfortable lead over Jokic in ESPN's final MVP straw poll.
SGA claimed 77 of 100 first-place votes and had 931 total points, while Jokic received the other 23 first-place votes and had 769 total points.
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This story was originally published April 2, 2025 at 12:17 PM.