Giannis, SGA get into it in MVP on MVP preseason moment

It might just be preseason, but whenever the best players square off against the best, they seem to kick their games into a higher gear. For both Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Giannis Antetokounmpo, this was certainly the case on Tuesday night as the Oklahoma City Thunder squared off against the Milwaukee Bucks in preseason action.

With a little under nine minutes to go in the first quarter, Gilgeous-Alexander found himself isolated against Antetokounmpo after the Bucks star picked up the reigning MVP in semi-transition. Antetokounmpo never takes plays off, so he locked in when he realized he was guarding the Thunder star. Gilgeous-Alexander typically makes defenders look silly, but Antetokounmpo, the 2019 and 2020 NBA MVP, got into a defensive stance and tracked the Thunder star all the way through — forcing him to slip and then tying up the ball.

It might be preseason basketball, but superstar players in the NBA never let an opportunity to mark their territory go to waste. Antetokounmpo has certainly heard of all the chatter crowning Gilgeous-Alexander as the best player in the NBA, and the Bucks star tends to take these things personally, fueling him to reach a higher level of play.

Meanwhile, Gilgeous-Alexander always plays with a confident yet quiet swagger that he exudes with every move. The Thunder star can get nearly every shot he wants almost every time he wants to, and he typically lets his game do the talking before he dances and prances on social media with his poems.

Antetokounmpo knows that Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder are the cream of the crop, and the best always measure themselves by the highest standards. And he certainly showed that he is still one of the most dominant two-way players in the game, as even now that he's 30 years of age, he can still keep up with arguably the most dominant scorer in the league on the perimeter.

Thunder favored to win another title as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks face crossroads

The Thunder are set up to win multiple titles, with Gilgeous-Alexander leading a very stacked cast consisting of excellent players such as Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, just to name a few.

Meanwhile, the Bucks are in a huge spot of uncertainty. Antetokounmpo is nearing free agency, and the team around him doesn't appear to be anything close to ready to compete for a championship.

Antetokounmpo may win the individual battle over Gilgeous-Alexander a few times, but the Thunder will have the last laugh considering how much better the entire team is compared to the Bucks.