Report: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was ‘disappointed’ he lost MVP to Nikola Jokic last season

According to NBA reporter Sam Amick of The Athletic, Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was “disappointed” he lost the MVP Award to Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic last season.

“As one person close to Gilgeous-Alexander shared, he was (not surprisingly) disappointed last season when he took second in MVP voting behind the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokić,” Amick wrote. “Not only had he averaged 30.1 points, 6.2 assists, five rebounds and two steals — marks previously reached by just five other players — but also he did it on the West’s top team. The advice that was given by the confidante at the time, while wise, was easier said than done: Just go do it again.”

Gilgeous-Alexander could win the MVP Award this season. He’s averaging 32.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.4 assists for the Thunder while shooting 52.2% from the field, 37.5% from beyond the arc and 90.1% from the free-throw line. 

OKC has the best record in the NBA.

Gilgeous-Alexander leads the league in total points and points per game. 

“We think about bigger-picture things, but at the end of the day, the way that you accomplish your goals, the way that you win a basketball game, is by stacking,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “So we just try to root back into the next possession. We try to root back into today and be incredibly present together and allow the compounding effect of that to win the day.

“And that’s how we’ve been in this position. We didn’t set up at the beginning of the season and say we wanted to win 60 games, but we stacked to that point, and that’s where we are right now. So anything we continue to accomplish from here on out is going to be the result of how we play the next possession, how we attack the next day. We’re going to stay on that track.”