Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won his first NBA MVP award last season, overcoming three-time winner Nikola Jokic to do it. Opinions can differ on which of these two players should have won, but both were more than deserving. Jokic averaged a triple-double and consistently dragged an undermanned Nuggets team to success; Shai led the league in scoring with 32.7 points per game, and at the end of the day, he was the best player on the best team.
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SGA’s Thunder beat Jokic’s Nuggets in seven games in the Western Conference semis, and after OKC clinched its first title since leaving Seattle, he was also able to add a Finals MVP to his trophy collection.
You would think that the reigning scoring champ, MVP and Finals MVP would be viewed as the top player heading into next season. After all, nothing has happened to change who SGA is. There’s been no injury, no off-court drama, no anything. Don’t tell that to the NBA though, because the league’s official site ranked him behind Jokic in its ranking of Western Conference players for next season.
This is nothing to be outraged about, because Jokic is phenomenal. As Shaun Powell, the author of the NBA.com article, wrote, the Joker has won three MVPs and finished twice in the last five years, and last season was arguably his best yet. It is interesting, though, and a departure from the way most people think and talk about the game.
Recency bias is real in basketball. It’s why certain people put LeBron James as the GOAT over Michael Jordan because MJ ‘played against plumbers and construction workers.’ Just like the Jokic vs. Shai debate, reasonable minds can differ on which one of LeBron and MJ belongs on top, but when arguments like that are made, that’s when you lose me.
The Thunder are set up for a potentially dynastic run. They were the youngest team in the league last year, and Sam Presti has done a virtuoso’s job in building a self-sustaining juggernaut for years to come. OKC’s depth and defensive ability are its bedrock foundation, but SGA is the secret sauce that puts the whole thing over the top. It wouldn’t be the same without him.
Who knows where the Nuggets would be without Jokic. Nowhere good, that’s for sure. It’s been a positive offseason in Denver though, as the uber-talented big man should have more help around him thanks to the arrivals of Cam Johnson, Jonas Valanciunas and Tim Hardaway Jr., and the return of Bruce Brown, a member of the Nuggets’ 2023 title team.
Jokic has gotten more headlines for the joy he took in seeing his horse win a prestigious race than for anything basketball-related, but his improved supporting cast should ensure that if he meets SGA in the playoffs again, he’ll no longer be bringing a knife to a gun fight. Maybe that’s why he was given the nod in these rankings, because he still pushed OKC to the brink without a ton of help.
Next year’s MVP race is going to be a cataclysmic battle. Not only are SGA and Jokic primed to repeat their phenomenal seasons, but Luka Doncic, now newly extended with the Lakers, is healthy and in the best shape of his career. Anthony Edwards continues to evolve into a superstar and Victor Wembanyama has the highest ceiling we’ve ever seen. If you thought this past MVP race was a battle, just wait.
