Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Could Beat The GOAT With Crazy Scoring Stat in 2025 NBA Playoffs

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has has a historically and statistically all-time great NBA season en route to his first NBA Michael Jordan MVP trophy win.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Could Beat The GOAT With Crazy Scoring Stat in 2025 NBA Playoffs

The NBA Finals matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers promises to be a basketball treat. Purists will enjoy the deep rosters, their pace of play, their two-way nature and team-based gameplay from both teams. Tyrese Haliburton is an all-time great playmaker making a vintage playoff run. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning MVP, is showing off his elite scoring and two-way play.

Head coaches Mark Daigneault and Rick Carlisle are on opposite ends of the NBA experience spectrum. Daigneault turned 40 this past February and has only been a head coach for a few years. Rick Carlisle, meanwhile, has authored iconic playoff victories in the past – most importantly coaching the 2010-11 Mavericks’ championship run. However, he now awaits a task that has daunting proportions and odds.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 32.7 points per game to win the scoring title. The 2024-25 Michael Jordan MVP trophy winner could surpass the man whose name is inscribed on this award with 4 more wins on an elite list.

Michael Jordan holds the record for the highest scoring average by a player on a championship team. The greatest player in all of American team sports averaged 32.6 ppg during his 92-93 season. Jordan also won the steals title that year, averaging 2.8 steals/game compared to 2.7 turnovers a game. He then sealed a Finals win over Charles Barkley and his 62-win Phoenix Suns with a superhuman 41 ppg average.

Gilgeous-Alexander is unlikely to breach MJ’s 41 points per game average, irrespective of how the Pacers guard him. He also didn’t win the steals title (which Dyson Daniels took). However, by beating Indiana, he will shade Jordan as the player in league history with the highest scoring average for the ongoing season’s champions.

The Pacers have thus far done a satisfactory job against the likes of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Jalen Brunson. Each of these players has presented their guard defenders with a different challenge. But Gilgeous-Alexander would be a cut above the rest of the players that they have had to scheme versus. The MVP has a very agile, jerky style of play. He can speed up, slow down and change directions unlike others. It will be hard to stop him from going off.

A few fun facts about the 2024-25 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander MVP campaign

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 64.5% true shooting percentage (TS%) is the second-best in NBA history for a player averaging over 32 points. He shot 51.9% from the field, 37.8% on three-pointers, and 89.8% on free throws. His improved 3-point shooting took him to flirting with the coveted 50/40/90 club. The last NBA MVP to average 50/40/90 shooting splits while averaging 30 ppg, unsurprisingly, is Stephen Curry.

SGA scored 30+ points in 49 games and 20+ points in 72 consecutive games this season. His playmaking has elevated also elevated as he averaged a career-high 6.4 assists per game. He has showcased his ability to orchestrate Oklahoma City’s offense in both the regular season as well as the playoffs.

Defensively, he’s a standout, ranking fifth league-wide in steals (1.7 per game) and first among guards in blocks (1.0 per game). He was also the only player averaging at least 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocks, contributing to the Thunder’s league-leading defensive rating of 106.6.

His +443 plus-minus since Christmas and top-tier net rating helped the Thunder achieve a 68-14 record, one of the best in NBA history. His 0.96 points per minute ranks fifth all-time, trailing only legends like Harden and Giannis. It is clear that SGA is on a path to historically great precedents. The world is at his feet as he competes for a title as the heavy favorite to take home the Larry O’Brien.

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