In the minds of many NBA fans and prognosticators, Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander closed the MVP conversation in last night's 129-126 victory over the Denver Nuggets. Alexander rose up and hit a three-pointer that sealed the hard-fought victory, finishing the night tying Wilt Chamberlain’s record for consecutive 20-point games. But, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith believes the race isn't over yet, as Celtics star Jaylen Brown still has a shot at the title.
He explained his theory on Tuesday morning's edition of First Take.
“Jaylen Brown is a top two candidate for League MVP. There are two road games coming up this week at San Antonio and then against Shea Butter and Oklahoma City. Now, Jaylen Brown, that's gonna go a long way towards us looking at…you see, we don't have to look at Shea butter. Because when you look at Shea butter, he's already League MVP. He's already an NBA Finals MVP. He's already an NBA champion. So is Jaylen Brown, but Jaylen Brown was that as a number two option.
Smith added, “You understand now, even though you got Tatum back, he's still feeling his way back. It's still you, Jaylen Brown. Where you roll up into San Antonio, when you roll up in the Oklahoma City, what you going to do?”
While Alexander has been the steady hand guiding the defending NBA Champions to another phenomenal regular season, Brown certainly has a claim for a shot at the MVP after the season that he's delivered for the Celtics. Both Alexander and Brown are featured on ClutchPoints Senior NBA Reporter Brett Siegel's latest “MVP Mondays”. Alexander sits comfortably at the top spot on Siegel's rankings while Brown is at number five behind Cade Cunningham, Victor Wembanyama, and Nikola Jokic.
In 57 games played, Brown is averaging 28.7 points per game, 7.2 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game with one steal. He's shooting 48% from the field and 34.8% from three-point range. He's been the catalyst for the Celtics’ success as they have continued to stay in the conversation without Jayson Tatum for the majority of the season.
But it's certainly hard to top the MVP moments that Alexander has provided, especially as the Thunder have navigated injuries to key contributors as well. Nevertheless, the Thunder and Celtics are meeting on Thursday, and a lot of questions will be answered in the head-to-head matchup that could very well be an NBA Finals preview.
