For the majority of the season, OKC Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been widely accepted as the frontrunner for the 2025 NBA MVP award. However, recent rumblings seem to indicate voters may be fading on his favoritism.
In a recent update of NBA.com's Kia MVP Ladder, the 26-year-old was usurped by Nuggets centerpiece Nikola Jokic atop the leader board, with writer Shaun Powell highlighting his pace to average a triple-double for the season (28.9 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 10.6 assists per game) coupled with his recent uptick in production and Denver's success rate as primary reasons why.
During the days since these new rankings surfaced, Gilgeous-Alexander has subliminally shown he's taken a bit of offense to the demotion via his on-court production, as he's strewn together a slew of masterclass performances that include a 51-point game and a 41-point game.
Of course, the Thunder star isn't the only one who believes his current runner-up status is an absolute farce, as NBA insider Brian Windhorst boldly stated during a recent appearance on NBA on ESPN that "the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander factor is really undersold in the NBA."
NBA insider sounds off on OKC Thunder star's demotion in MVP race
"I see people talk about that there's a race for the MVP, I just don't think that there is. I think [Shai Gilgeous-Alexander] is in the lead by a lot," Windhorst said.
Though a major talking point regarding Nikola Jokic's candidacy for MVP is that he's performing at better rates than he did during his three previous MVP campaigns, as he's posting career highs in points, assists, and three-point percentage, an equally superficial counter argument is that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is producing at similar rates to that of only one player in league history.
Said player: Michael Jordan.
With his current pace of averaging 32.8 points, 6.2 assists, 5.1 rebounds, 1.8 steals, and 1.0 blocks while shooting 52.6 percent from the floor and 37.8 percent shooting from distance, he's a mere .2 steals per game away from joining the GOAT himself as the only two individuals to drop at least 31.0 points, 6.0 assists, and 2.0 steals while shooting 50 percent on a nightly basis.
On top of this, among players who have seen at least 30 games played this season, SGA ranks first in the league in points, net rating (17.6), plus-minus (+12.6), and win shares (13.8) while ranking second among starters in defensive rating (104.5).
Add all this to the fact that he's the top player on the Western Conference's top-seeded team at 52-11 (12 wins ahead of Jokic's Nuggets, mind you), and Windhorst's argument only becomes more clear-cut