As a broadcaster covering all things NBA, Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal gets a vote to pick this year’s regular season MVP. As it stands, its not Nikola Jokic or Luka Doncic for him. Rather’s it’s going to be Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Throughout 70 contests this season, Gilgeous-Alexander has taken a leap in every aspect of his game. During that period, the OKC star has averaged 30.4 points on 54 percent shooting from the field, 36 percent from deep, and 87 percent from beyond the arc. He’s also leading the league in steals by making 2.1 of them on a nightly basis while adding 5.6 rebounds and 6.3 assists.
In comparison, Jokic is posting averages of 26.1 points by hitting 56 percent of his field goals, 12.3 rebounds, 9.0 assists, and 1.3 steals per game for the Denver Nuggets. Meanwhile, Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic leads the league in scoring with 33.9 points per game to go along with 9.1 rebounds and 9.8 assists.
Even though Jokic has lifted Denver to the top of the Western Conference and Doncic has made historic triple-doubles lately, Gilgeous-Alexander remains in the MVP conversation due to his immense talent and how he has turned the Thunder around from bottom dwellers in the NBA to contenders for the championship in the coming months.
NBA Legend Shaquille O’Neal Picks Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as This Season’s MVP
During an NBA Pregame Show on TNT, O’Neal argued with his fellow hosts why Gilgeous-Alexander should win the MVP award this year. In a video posted by NBA on TNT on X:
“The MVP is SGA. Period. … He’s the baddest player in the game and their team is 49-21.”@SHAQ has his pick for MVP 👀 pic.twitter.com/nPbCZGouob
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) March 26, 2024
O’Neal expounds that SGA has 15 30-point games this season, a feat even Doncic and Jokic didn’t achieve. And even if the other two stars have put strong cases to win the award, the NBA legend still thinks that the Thunder star is the clear winner of the three.
With only a couple of weeks to go before the regular season ends, there’s still time for the OKC guard to strengthen his case to win MVP. If he does, O’Neal will be vindicated in the end.
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