Veteran NBA analyst picks between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic for NBA MVP

Zach Lowe gives a compelling argument while picking his NBA MVP winner between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic.

Veteran NBA analyst picks between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic for NBA MVP

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic

The 2024-25 NBA MVP race is one of the closest in terms of player performance that fans have ever witnessed. Both the top candidates are having seasons for a lifetime in ways of their own. It has been hard to set up a single differentiator between the two that doesn’t unfairly penalize the other. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has his two-way impact to stake his claim on, while Nikola Jokic has a great statistical argument.

The choice between these two players based solely on their play and production will be an extremely difficult one for NBA awards voters to make. We may never see another season with the kind of impact that these two players have had. While SGA has led his team to the second-best record of the 21st century, Jokic is averaging a triple-double with the best efficiency and highest rebound average ever.

Yet, veteran NBA analyst Zach Lowe believes that he has made the right choice between two impeccable candidates. The Ringer’s in-house NBA guru believes that he’s found the one differentiator between the two that makes his decision easy. Lowe posited his argument on the latest episode of ‘The Zach Lowe Show’.

For these 82 games, who was best is close enough that I am going to go with Shai. Because I just think 68 wins need to be respected. If they were 59-23, 60-22, 57-25, I think it’s Jokic, Jokic, Jokic. 50 wins, by the way, for Denver, considering their turmoil, is a s*** ton of wins in the Western Conference. There is no wrong or right answer as long as you have these two guys first and second on your ballot. I just think 68 wins is so many goddamn wins, and he’s the reason they win that many games.

Zach Lowe picks between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic for MVP

The logic used by Zach Lowe will likely also be used by several NBA award voters. SGA was a -4000 favorite before game 82 of the regular season to win MVP honors for this very reason. The former ESPN analyst also made it amply clear that Jokic remains the best NBA player to pick first in a redraft of the league, as the best player in the world, as well as the best player in a single playoff series.

Both Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic enter the playoffs with something to prove

Despite their redoubtable regular season campaign, the OKC Thunder have doubters all around the NBA landscape. The likes of Shannon Sharpe, among others, believe that veteran teams like the Lakers and Clippers are both likelier to win playoff matchups between the two should they arise. SGA has one playoff series win to his name after three appearances in the postseason at his current age.

The Canadian will be raring to lead his young, athletic team over whichever teams they draw in the playoffs. With all the trash being talked about the Thunder and people doubting their youth, SGA has lots to prove.

Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, meanwhile, are reeling from the firing of their head coach and general manager. They have to regroup under interim coach David Adelman and prove their mettle as a team. Facing the Los Angeles Clippers as underdogs despite possessing homecourt advantage will be a real test for the unit.

If Jokic and co can win against the Clippers and then put the OKC Thunder to the sword, a number of MVP voters will have their feet in their mouths. Doing so would put Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in a similar spot to Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson during the 1995 NBA playoffs, when Olajuwon famously beat the latter in their MVP playoff matchup.