The OKC Thunder never felt this close to a winning feeling since their move from Seattle. Not the Kevin Durant days, not the Russell Westbrook days, nor the James Harden days, none of them can imprint the assurance Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led OKC Thunder is giving this season. The Canadian is at the hub of Mark Daigneault’s men’s 35-7 record. Every night he looks unstoppable and the HC has cracked the code to sustain that in the long run.

A major pattern in the OKC Thunder’s games this season has been the noticeable absence of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. By the time he leaves the court, the damage has already been done. Not that anyone missed out on the fact that this perhaps is the ploy to keep their star guard fresh. But still, an official confirmation was needed to clear the suspicion. Ahead of the Jazz game, Mark Daigneault finally spoke about the strategy.

“He’s great with that stuff first of all. He gives me a lot of space. I’m a better coach because I coach him. He doesn’t tie a hand behind my back at all. He’s a very coachable guy that’s trusting and collaborative. He’s a great partner with stuff like that. The way I look at that, it keeps him fresh,” the HC told the media after practice.

“He might just have a little more pop because he’s saving some of those minutes. We’re also trying to develop a team. Those minutes are important to develop a lot of different things with the team… Those minutes are valuable to develop the entire team. To use them to burn him 36 minutes in a 20-point game, I’m not sure that’s good for him or the team.”

Daigneault, who’ll lead out one of the four NBA All-Star teams in San Francisco, also emphasized how SGA is activating the ones around him, forcing the opponent to “pick their poison”. Shai is averaging 31.5 points per game from 53.2% shooting this season. After missing out on the MVP award last season, this time the tide is in his favor. At least the major part of the national media supports that notion.

National media amp up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for MVP campaign

It’s halfway through the season and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been receiving the loudest support from the media in discussions about the 2025 MVP title. To back that up, former NBA star turned analyst Lou Williams voiced his support for selecting Shai for the MVP race.

“He makes everybody play the way that he wants to play the game,” Lou said on Run It Back. “He’s never sped up on the offensive end. You never see him really getting out of character. You can’t really get him rattled or any of those things, he uses his size to get to his spots.” He further analyzed Shai’s playing skills, claiming that his vision, control, shooting ability, poise, maturity, and confidence, along with his ability to stay calm under pressure, make him stand out.

Sam Vecenie of The Athletic was also on the same page with Lou. “I’ll make the case for why I have Shai at No. 1,” the reporter said on Game Theory podcast. “I think he’s the best scorer in the NBA right now.” There’s definitely no doubt that his score is the highest in the league right now. According to NBA’s Kia MVP ladder, the 26-year-old currently sits at the top with remarkable averages of 31.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 6.1 assists.

Standing just behind him on the list is the title defender Nikola Jokic, averaging 30.6 points, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, with an average of 31.3 points. Whether Shai will be able to hold onto this spot until the second half of the season, or lose the race to the other two MVP contenders, will become clear as the remainder of the season unfolds.