With each passing day, a new argument seems to be laid out for why OKC Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander deserves to take home MVP honors this season over Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, and vice versa.
For every case spouting SGA's league-leading 32.8 points per game averages and Oklahoma City's top record of 64-12, there appears to be some sort of counter from Joker that highlights a ridiculous, record-setting stat line accompanied by the fact that his team is still legitimately in the running for the number two seed in the Western Conference standings.
The big man's latest on-court plea came via a ridiculous performance against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night, where he recorded just the third 60-point triple-double in NBA history.
Though many seem to still have Gilgeous-Alexander as the favorite to win the illustrious title, as NBA.com has him as the frontrunner on their final rankings list, there are some who now appear less confident than ever regarding the MVP race, with the Thunder star's own cousin, Nickeil Alexander-Walker even saying Jokic is "making a good run" for the hardware.
Without a doubt, the 30-year-old's 61 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists performance warrants serious praise and celebration from his peers and media personalities alike. However, when looking at his April 1 showing as a whole, there's one glaring statistic that suggests that had SGA accomplished such a feat, people would likely be singing a slightly different tune.
Thunder star would likely be dragged for free throws if roles reversed
Over the past two years, a rather disparaging claim about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has become quite popular, as many have gone about and labeled him a "free throw merchant."
In its simplest definition, this is a term used to describe a player who hunts for foul calls and, in turn, free throw attempts to pad their scoring numbers.
In 2024-25, Gilgeous-Alexander has regularly been lambasted for supposedly using such antics to help inflate his league-best averages, and, while such claims are easily debunkable, the rhetoric seems to be as alive as ever.
What's most annoying about this narrative is that it appears the Thunder guard is the only one being watched under a microscope and having all his foul line visits tracked. Meanwhile, there are plenty of other stars who do the exact same thing.
No one seemed to bat an eye when Giannis Antetokounmpo (the league leader in free throws attempted per game) hoisted up a whopping 26 attempts against the Atlanta Hawks back on December 4, just like no one's talking about how during Nikola Jokic's historic performance against the Timberwolves, he shot 24 attempts from the charity stripe.
But when Gilgeous-Alexander dropped his career-high 54-point performance back on January 22 (which was a win, unlike these other two aforementioned outings), all the haters called out his 18 free throws on the night.
For some reason, despite the fact that there's nothing wrong with any of these players benefiting from foul calls, there's a real double standard when it comes to the Thunder star and this particular area of the game.
Because of this, if the roles were reversed and SGA had dropped 60-plus points while shooting 24 free throws in a losing effort rather than Jokic, it could easily be assumed that his presence at the foul line would have been a major talking point among keyboard warriors and pessimistic pundits.