In a segment on 'KG Certified,' NBA legend Kevin Garnett gave his thoughts on the 2024 MVP race. Nuggets star Nikola Jokic ended up winning the award this year (the third of his career) but Garnett believes it should have gone to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
“It’s a regular season award, and usually the best player on your team usually represents the best team. So I thought Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] should have had [the MVP]. He's on the best team in the league... it's a regular-season award."
Jokic won the MVP by a mile and the final vote wasn't even close. He received 79 first-place votes in a season where he averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 9.0 assists per game on 58.3% shooting. The Nuggets finished as a top-three seed in the West and that was enough in most voters minds to give Jokic the edge over anyone else.
Shai ranked second in MVP voting this year, but he only received 15 first-place votes, meaning he never really had a chance to win it this year. While he's not nearly as accomplished or decorated as the Joker, Gilgeous-Alexander was more than deserving of the MVP with averages of 30.1 points, 6.2 assists, and 5.4 rebounds per game on 53.5% shooting. He led a young Thunder team to the top spot in the standings and many feel that it should have been enough to get him the MVP.
Besides Garnett, we know plenty of others who have advocated for Shai as the MVP, including NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal, who told Nikola Jokic to his face that the young Thunder guard was more deserving.
But with the voting already finalized, there's no changing the outcome. Now that the MVP trophy is out of reach, the best that Shai can hope for is to secure the Larry O'Brien this season, which is no doubt much easier said than done.
`The Oklahoma City Thunder Are Putting Everyone On Notice
As a young team with virtually no playoff experience together, the Thunder were not projected to be this good this fast. Even after securing the first seed in the West, critics were hesitant to trust a group that has proven nothing in the playoffs.
But through the first six games of this post-season, the Thunder have looked pretty good. They are 5-1 overall, including a round-one sweep over the New Orleans Pelicans. They dominated Game 1 against the Dallas Mavericks before a hot shooting night from Luka Doncic and PJ Washington gave them their first loss of the playoffs on Thursday.
However the game plays out on Saturday, Shai will be essential for the Thunder if they want to sustain their success for a Finals run. As the head of operations, everything on the team runs through him and it's why so many are convinced that he's the most valuable player in the league... and now is his chance to prove it.
So far in these playoffs, Gilgeous-Alexander has answered every call and he'll have to keep the dominance going if the Thunder are to get out of this series alive. If they do, it will work wonders for Shai's status as one of the best in the game right now and it might just elevate him to the next level of superstardom.
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