While many may believe the recent polling results for MVP predictions among NBA GMs will give Shai Gilgeous-Alexander a chip on his shoulder heading into the 2026-27 season, make no mistake: the OKC Thunder star has had one for months.
That's what Carmelo Anthony is stressing anyway, and, frankly, it's hard to argue against such a notion.
The former Thunder forward and Hall of Famer was recently found gushing over Oklahoma City as a whole on a new edition of his 7PM in Brooklyn podcast, noting that, despite their loss to the Spurs in the West finals last season, in his eyes, they are the ones who still run the conference moving forward.
In fact, the way the Thunder were bounced from the postseason is what Melo's convinced put the chip on Shai's shoulder to begin with, noting that he, along with the rest of the team, should have a completely different level of "hunger" this coming campaign.
Considering SGA's well-documented competitive spirit and the recently revealed text exchange between him and trainer Nem Ilic, it's safe to say the reigning two-time MVP was already coming into the year with something to prove long before he earned an honorable mention in the NBA GM's predictions poll.
Thunder star may have found a way to get even better this offseason
It's hard to believe that a player who has earned four straight First Team All-NBA nods and won two consecutive MVPs can get better... yet here we are.
This summer, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took it upon himself to hone his craft as an off-ball scoring weapon, a skill set that has been lacking in his game over the years, as he's favored more of an isolation-heavy approach.
Though it may have only come in preseason action, the results of his offseason work have already been incredibly encouraging, as the Thunder superstar wrapped up his three games of play with averages of 16.3 points on a whopping 65.2 percent shooting from the floor and 66.7 percent shooting from deep, with six of his nine total long-range attempts coming directly off of off-ball sets.
Perhaps the latest GM survey was held prior to the start of preseason. Maybe they're just following the same approach as last season by overlooking the OKC cornerstone in the MVP discussion.
Regardless, it seems there's a real chance Gilgeous-Alexander will wind up exceeding these pre-set expectations by advancing his game even further during the upcoming 2026-27 season.
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