Pistons announcer compares Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to Nikola Jokic demeaningly in loss vs OKC Thunder

Detroit Pistons announcer George Blaha trolls Shai Gilgeous-Alexander by comparing his stats to those of Nikola Jokic recently.

Pistons announcer compares Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to Nikola Jokic demeaningly in loss vs OKC Thunder

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Image via Instagram)

The Oklahoma City Thunder moved to 64-12 on the season with a 119-103 win over the Detroit Pistons last night. While their offense was not necessarily firing on all cylinders, OKC kept the defensive pressure sky-high. They were able to transform a small 103-98 lead into an unassailable gap quite dramatically. The manner of their win probably led to a rather personal attack by the Pistons’ announcer.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who was covered by All-Defensive team hopeful Ausar Thompson for the bulk of the game, had to earn his points the hard way. The MVP favorite finished the night with 31 points, needing 12 free throws to get to that total. SGA only converted two of his seven 3-point looks. He finished with figures of 31/6/3/3 steals/2 blocks, but was clearly not at his best.

YouTube video

Long time Detroit Pistons announcer George Blaha seemed to have a taste of sour grapes as the game clock wound down with his team on the losing side. The veteran made it clear who he believes should win MVP this year. Not Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, going by his framing!

A measly 3 assists for SGA and 10/26 shooting. He may be the MVP but he’s not the best player in the world. The Joker is the best player in the world. He had a 61-point triple-double last night and had more than 3 assists.

George Blaha on SGA and Nikola Jokic’s MVP standing

The Denver Nuggets saw an exhibition of brilliance from Nikola Jokic go to waste in a 140-139 loss to Minnesota this week. An uncharacteristic Russell Westbrook error put only the third 60-point triple-double in league history go to waste.

If the OKC Thunder get wind of this roast, they will probably play it off as friendly banter. After all, teams that are 52 full games above .500 with six games to go don’t have to concern themselves with how they’re greeted by announcers of opposition fanbases. The Thunder are currently on an 11-game winning streak, and have important bragging rights games coming up against the Lakers and the Rockets this week.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander vs Nikola Jokic is a futile exercise

It is unfair to both Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic that they are having historic seasons at the same time. Gilgeous-Alexander has remained a two-way behemoth at his position and has clearly been the NBA’s best guard this year. Jokic, meanwhile, is due to seal the first triple-double average for any center. The Serbian three-time MVP is doing this while playing the most efficient, well-spread volume scoring style of his career.

There is no wrong answer to this debate. Even wordsmiths like Jadakiss are at a loss for words to describe how effective, unstoppable and amazing Jokic is playing. At the same time, there has never been a player to have led his team to a no. 1 seed, 65+ wins and not have won MVP. The most reliable formula to predict an MVP winner has been ‘best player on the best team’. Even so, picking one of these two players can boil down to a matter of preference for MVP honors.

However, there is no doubt that Jokic has made the title of ‘best player in the world’ strictly his own. Irrespective of how his team fares in the postseason, Jokic has displayed a level of offensive completeness, composure and execution truly never seen in NBA history. His ability to always pace himself, make the right play and score in any way he can sets him apart at that spot. Therefore, fans can see where George Blaha is coming from.