Why SGA won MVP | CBC Sports
CBC Sports' daily newsletter explains why Canada's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award, and why some voters preferred another star.
This is an excerpt from The Buzzer, which is CBC Sports' daily email newsletter. Stay up to speed on what's happening in sports by subscribing here.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named the NBA's Most Valuable Player last night, becoming just the second Canadian ever to win basketball's most prestigious individual award and the first since Steve Nash went back-to-back in 2005 and '06.
This wasn't a surprise. After finishing second in MVP voting last year to Denver's Nikola Jokic, the 26-year-old, 6-foot-6 guard from Hamilton, Ont., emerged as the clear favourite months ago and finished the regular season with an ironclad (and elegantly simple) case: he led the league in scoring and powered his team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, to the best record in the entire league.
Digging a little deeper into Gilgeous-Alexander's fantastic season, his 32.7 points per game put him well ahead of scoring-race runner-up Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks (30.4) and the third-place Jokic (29.6). In addition to becoming the first Canadian to lead the NBA in scoring, SGA averaged a career-high 6.4 assists along with five rebounds and 1.7 steals, which tied for fourth-most in the league and helped OKC to the No. 1 defensive rating along with the fourth-best offensive rating.
In a league where fans constantly complain about load management and stars not taking the regular season seriously enough, Gilgeous-Alexander was about as close to an Ironman as you'll get these days, playing 76 of the Thunder's 82 games. Among the top 15 scorers, only Minnesota's Anthony Edwards (79) suited up more often.
WATCH | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander becomes 2nd Canadian to win NBA MVP:
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander becomes 2nd Canadian to win NBA MVP
23 hours agoShai Gilgeous-Alexander has become the second Canadian ever to win the NBA MVP award after Steve Nash. He led the league in scoring this season, guided the Oklahoma City Thunder to the best record and is helping cement Canadaâs growing influence in basketball.And SGA brought it every night. He scored at least 20 points in all but one of his games, including his last 72 in a row, giving him the NBA's longest single-season 20-point streak in more than 60 years. He also led the league in games with at least 30 points (49), 40 points (13) and 50 points (four), topping out at 54 in a January win over Utah.
Oh, and he's no chucker. Gilgeous-Alexander is just the second player in NBA history to average at least 32 points and six assists while shooting at least 50 per cent from the field in a season. The other is Michael Jordan.
And yet, the voting for the MVP trophy that's now named after His Airness was closer than you might think, given Gilgeous-Alexander's stellar resumĂŠ. He received 71 of the 100 first-place votes, with the other 29 all going to Jokic, the MVP winner in three of the four previous years. Antetokounmpo, a back-to-back MVP in 2019 and '20, came in third.
Jokic's Nuggets finished fourth in the Western Conference, 18 games behind the Thunder, which did a lot of damage to his MVP case. But the 6-foot-11 Serbian centre's numbers were arguably more impressive than SGA's. He averaged a triple double with 29.6 points, 12.7 points and â most incredibly, given his size and the position he plays â 10.2 assists.
WATCH | Shai's dad on how his NBA dream began, rivalry with cousin Nickeil:
Shai-Gilgeous Alexander's dad on how SGA's NBA dream began and his rivalry with cousin Nickeil
6 hours agoShai-Gilgeous Alexander's dad, Vaughan, on how his son's path to the NBA started with his hopes that basketball would lead Shai to a university scholarship and his son's rivalry with and affection for his cousin, Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard, Nickeil Alexander-Walker.To many fans, Jokic is also the more aesthetically pleasing player. This 284-pound giant is somehow the NBA's best (and most entertaining) passer, dishing out highlight-reel assists with stunning regularity. Meanwhile, some accuse Gilgeous-Alexander of being a "free-throw merchant" who excels in the dark art of drawing fouls, inflating his scoring numbers a la the polarizing James Harden in his prime.
Fair enough, as Gilgeous-Alexander sank an NBA-high 7.9 free throws per game this season â 1.4 more than Antetokounmpo and Atlanta's Trae Young, who tied for second. But Giannis drew far more attempts (10.6 to SGA's 8.8) and doesn't seem to face the same level of criticism.
True, Gilgeous-Alexander does tend to "sell" his opponents' fouls a lot, and some of his embellishments can look pretty silly from the right angle in slow-motion replay. But the referees often fall for them in real time, so can you really blame him for exploiting that edge? Doing whatever it takes to win â whether that's scoring, D'ing up or, yes, working the refs â is the calling card of a true MVP.
More trophies?
Gilgeous-Alexander won the Northern Star Award as Canada's athlete of the year in 2023 after placing fifth in NBA MVP voting and leading the men's national team to an historic bronze medal at the Basketball World Cup, where the Canadian men also clinched their first Olympic berth since Nash dragged his squad to the quarterfinals in 2000.Â
SGA was a top Northern Star candidate again last year after moving up to second in the MVP vote, leading OKC to the best record in the Western Conference and placing second in scoring at the Paris Olympics with 21 points per game. But Canada got bounced in the quarterfinals by host France (despite SGA's 27 points) while Summer McIntosh won three gold medals and a silver, making the swimming sensation the obvious choice.
The Northern Star voters might have another slam dunk on their hands this December, especially if Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy as NBA champions next month, which would almost certainly mean a Finals MVP for him as well. Oklahoma City is heavily favoured to beat Minnesota in the Western Conference final after blowing out the Timberwolves 114-88 in the series opener on Tuesday, with 31 points and nine assists (both game highs) by SGA. Game 2 is tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Maple-infused Finals?
There's a decent chance that the upcoming Finals will feature three Canadian starters, a Canadian sixth man and a star with a strong connection to Canada.
Joining Gilgeous-Alexander in the Thunder starting five is Montreal's Lu Dort, a rugged guard who averaged only 10 points this season but is one of the premier perimeter defenders in the NBA. If they get past the Timberwolves, who include SGA's cousin Nickeil Alexander-Walker in their rotation, the Thunder could face the Indiana Pacers, who have Canada's Andrew Nembhard starting at guard and Bennedict Mathurin as the first man off the bench.
Nembhard scored 15 points and Mathurin chipped in nine last night as Indy rallied from down 14 with less than three minutes left in regulation to stun the New York Knicks 138-135 in overtime in Game 1 of the Eastern final at Madison Square Garden. Nembhard has upped his averages to 14.6 points and 5.8 assists in the playoffs, while Mathurin is scoring close to 11 a game after averaging 16 in the regular season.Â
The Pacers' leading scorer and rebounder this season was Pascal Siakam, who helped the Toronto Raptors to their improbable NBA championship in 2019. So, while a small-market Finals matchup of Oklahoma City vs. Indiana might not thrill the suits at the league office or the TV networks, it could be pretty nice for fans up here in Canada.
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