It was early in the NBA season when Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander first signaled he could be this season’s MVP.
In a 128-120 win over Cleveland at home in November, SGA dropped 43 points, going 15-of-22 from the field. It wasn’t so much his impeccable shooting that was eye-catching. Instead, it was his ability to be the glue guy and to orchestrate plays that made the Thunder nearly unstoppable.
In that game, SGA controlled the ball, drove to the rim and kicked the ball out to players in catch-and-shoot positions. He created turnovers at half-court and took over the game with his own shot inside the paint.
He also showed vision with slick inside passes for open guys such as Jalen Williams to score easy buckets. It was a complete game in which he made his teammates better. And this is how SGA has played most of this season — different from other seasons — that has made the Thunder more effective.
Per FanDuel as of Wednesday, SGA is second behind Denver’s Nikola Jokic for MVP. SGA is sublime this season, averaging 31.2 points per game with 5.6 rebounds and 6.5 assists. In 57 games, he’s shooting a career-high 54.8 percent from the field.
Oklahoma City, meanwhile, is 41-17, tied for the second-best record in the league. During a stretch in mid-December through early January, the Thunder seemed to click.
OKC went 8-1, beating reigning NBA champion Denver twice (by one and by 26). OKC also beat playoff contenders such as the Clippers by 19, the Timberwolves by 23 and the Celtics by four. Their only loss was to the Lakers.
What makes Gilgeous-Alexander rise above, say, the Mavs’ Luka Doncic, the Sixers’ Joel Embiid or the Lakers’ Anthony Davis is his sleek individual play creates better versions of his teammates.
Doncic, who scored 73 points earlier this season, is phenomenal. But his scoring alone is often not enough to win games. And that’s been the key to the Thunder’s improved team play — they’re winning and everyone is contributing.
Take Isaiah Joe. Gilgeous-Alexander’s ability to create and handle the ball gives Joe opportunities to score in catch-and-shoot positions. Joe is especially adept when he has open looks. Against the Warriors in November, he got hot and sank 23 points, going 7-of-7 from 3-point range.
Aaron Wiggins is only averaging 14.4 minutes a game, but he’s shooting 57.4 percent from the field and 51.2 percent from 3-point range.
He brings the intangibles like energy and off-the-ball IQ, but he has learned to make the most of his shot-taking setup by Gilgeous-Alexander’s vision. Across the roster, Gilgeous-Alexander is the quarterback bringing everyone together.
The attribute that especially stands out is SGA’s on-court ability to buy time. With the ball, he somehow glides through a wall of players in the paint to pass or shoot.
It’s in that moment he’ll use his body to pause, accelerate and then stop — all at different speeds, confusing the opposition and giving him time to make his decision to throw to a teammate or step back and sink a bucket. It’s hard to defend because defenders can’t read his next move.
Jockic, a two-time MVP, might be hard to topple for this season’s MVP given his ability to nail triple-doubles almost every game. But you can’t take away the fact that the Thunder’s improvement has Gilgeous-Alexander’s fingerprints all over it.
Oklahoma City is one of the best teams in the NBA. That bullet point on his resume surely makes SGA award-worthy.
