Shai Gilgeous-Alexander vs Nikola Jokic MVP race: 3 reasons why ‘best player in the world’ will lose

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander vs Nikola Jokic MVP race is now in its second straight year with the media and league tilted on one side.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander vs Nikola Jokic MVP race: 3 reasons why ‘best player in the world’ will lose

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic are battling in the MVP race

During last season’s MVP race, members of the media were split between Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. It eventually went to the Denver Nuggets superstar, handing him his third award with that win being his second straight.

So far this season, the script has flipped with majority of the analysts siding with the Oklahoma City Thunder superstar. Sure, he has been consistently great so far, but the Serbian off late has brought back the question if he is the best player in the world.

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His recent Wilt Chamberlain esque numbers have ruffled some feathers with some believing SGA is not up to Jokic’s level. Rather, he is benefitting from playing with an elite squad which has helped them to a near league best record.

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But Jokic is helping his team stay in the top 3 even though they do not have the bench strength that propelled them to a championship. But even then, there are three reasons why he might not end up with his fourth MVP award.

America vs International

Last season, Shaquille O’Neal raised a furor when he openly told Nikola Jokic that according to him, SGA was the MVP. This was when Inside the NBA called the center to tell him he had won his third MVP. But O’Neal had a different view which The Joker accepted.

Prior to that, there were some conversations going around amongst former players that the now father of two was making other NBA players look bad. It could be that the league and its media partners have accounted for all that.

This season, fans have been even more vocal about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander‘s foul baiting. That has helped him rack up a lot of points. At the same time, fans also believe that the Thunder’s record is not completely a result of his exploits.

But it seems the league and the media want the MVP to remain in North America. They would have preferred if an American was heading the race, but the Canadian is the next best option as the last six have gone to international players.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as face of the league

The NBA is also in dire need of a new face of its league. Since those last six MVP awards have been won by international players, conversations started if the league has completely gone global. That is, international players were now showing that they were better than those from North America.

It also brought up questions if the new face of the league was going to be an international player. Had Luka Doncic led the MVP race, the league would not have any choice but to unofficially hand him that monicker.

But since Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has run away into a comfortable lead, the league can probably make him their new face. A North American as the league MVP and one of its faces, that too playing for a small market team will do wonders for the league as a whole. Unless the likes of Anthony Edwards or Jayson Tatum step up, SGA will likely be ‘that guy’.

Nikola Jokic facing voter exhaustion

Last season when Nikola Jokic won the MVP, some pointed out that the league had no choice as he was better than the others. At the same time, he did not have a season that was better than his previous two wins.

This season though, the Serbian is performing at a level viewers have not seen before. As per statistician Dan Hyatt, The Joker has a bigger impact than SGA for their respective teams. In fact, the Thunder are still a playoff team without SGA.

Without Jokic, the Denver Nuggets struggle. That is a definition of how impactful and valuable their best player is. However, it will not matter as voter exhaustion kicks in. Had SGA had this run a season or two ago, there would not have been this big a debate.

But now with already three wins and the last two back-to-back, voter exhaustion will kick in. Since most of those votes are from members of the media, they decide depending on how fans react. Up until last season, Nikola Jokic as the MVP was a foregone conclusion.

But foregone conclusions do not help with television and media engagements. Fans want to see others step up. Therefore, even if the 30-year-old plays at an unbelievable level, there is a chance he still will not get the vote.