Jokic casually drops like a 24-15-12 stat line in wins all the time. And they’re right there with us in the standings. He’s a reigning champion and a household name at this point. Only thing against him is voter fatigue, really.
Embiid is out of the race now so we no longer have to worry about his dominant play this season. Otherwise, I think he would have won back to back.
Luka is also playing out of his mind this season and the only thing holding him back is team record, currently sitting at the 8th seed with a .531 win PCT.
Trying to put bias aside, Shai has easily been the most consistent player in the league this season, in my opinion. He leads the league in games of 30+ points. He also has been a monster on both ends of the court, leading the league in steals. The Thunder currently hold the 1st seed in the Western Conference which is an incredible accomplishment but could change by the end of the season. He is now an all star starter, coming off an All-NBA 1st team season. More people are starting to notice him but I can’t help but feel like it’s not enough.
He’s not a jersey seller, Thunder games are rarely nationally televised, and if we’re being honest, people don’t like how long his last name is, which is as stupid as it is true. He also is not a flashy scorer. He’s incredible at what he does but he’s rarely hitting several 35 foot three pointers night in and night out which is what people love to watch.
As mentioned though, Shai is consistent. He averages roughly 31/6/6/2/1 on the season. But the problem with that is that he almost never explodes offensively for some monster stat line. He has never scored 45 even once, let alone 60-70+ like some players have been doing lately. Today’s NBA loves scoring more than ever and shai’s lack of a solid three point shot holds him back from having 50+.
The thing is though, he doesn’t need to. The team is winning games all the time without him needing to score some monster number. The Thunder are very well rounded and have a number of guys who can go off at anytime. Last night is a great example of that. We had 5 players score 20+ which is ridiculous. And yet people still talked way more about Curry’s 60 point game in a loss from the other night.
The nba media and casual fan base loves to see big numbers. This will lead to less media attention for Shai and, by extension, less MVP votes. I’m not saying it’s right, but that seems to be how things go nowadays unfortunately.
In conclusion, I believe that Shai has the best CASE for MVP but he may not have the biggest fan backing to get the votes. Yes there are more factors than just fan voting, but it’s a big part of the narrative. Hopefully the NBA media members pull through and show Shai some love. If he gets the award, I will be thrilled but if he doesn’t, it won’t change anything about the team and if anything, it might just make him even hungrier.
4 Comments
It’s February lol
“Heist”
I love Shai, but he is not a lock yet for MVP.
Jokic casually drops like a 24-15-12 stat line in wins all the time. And they’re right there with us in the standings. He’s a reigning champion and a household name at this point. Only thing against him is voter fatigue, really.
Embiid is out of the race now so we no longer have to worry about his dominant play this season. Otherwise, I think he would have won back to back.
Luka is also playing out of his mind this season and the only thing holding him back is team record, currently sitting at the 8th seed with a .531 win PCT.
Trying to put bias aside, Shai has easily been the most consistent player in the league this season, in my opinion. He leads the league in games of 30+ points. He also has been a monster on both ends of the court, leading the league in steals. The Thunder currently hold the 1st seed in the Western Conference which is an incredible accomplishment but could change by the end of the season. He is now an all star starter, coming off an All-NBA 1st team season. More people are starting to notice him but I can’t help but feel like it’s not enough.
He’s not a jersey seller, Thunder games are rarely nationally televised, and if we’re being honest, people don’t like how long his last name is, which is as stupid as it is true. He also is not a flashy scorer. He’s incredible at what he does but he’s rarely hitting several 35 foot three pointers night in and night out which is what people love to watch.
As mentioned though, Shai is consistent. He averages roughly 31/6/6/2/1 on the season. But the problem with that is that he almost never explodes offensively for some monster stat line. He has never scored 45 even once, let alone 60-70+ like some players have been doing lately. Today’s NBA loves scoring more than ever and shai’s lack of a solid three point shot holds him back from having 50+.
The thing is though, he doesn’t need to. The team is winning games all the time without him needing to score some monster number. The Thunder are very well rounded and have a number of guys who can go off at anytime. Last night is a great example of that. We had 5 players score 20+ which is ridiculous. And yet people still talked way more about Curry’s 60 point game in a loss from the other night.
The nba media and casual fan base loves to see big numbers. This will lead to less media attention for Shai and, by extension, less MVP votes. I’m not saying it’s right, but that seems to be how things go nowadays unfortunately.
In conclusion, I believe that Shai has the best CASE for MVP but he may not have the biggest fan backing to get the votes. Yes there are more factors than just fan voting, but it’s a big part of the narrative. Hopefully the NBA media members pull through and show Shai some love. If he gets the award, I will be thrilled but if he doesn’t, it won’t change anything about the team and if anything, it might just make him even hungrier.
TLDR; Shai is him.