Carmelo Anthony has firmly placed his support behind Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as the next NBA MVP, even over Nikola Jokic. Anthony broached the topic on the latest episode of the Wave Sports + Entertainment Original 7 PM in Brooklyn with co-host Mero and guest Bomani Jones.
Carmelo Anthony discussed the criteria for voting for MVP and why he believes that Gilgeous-Alexander is the consensus MVP favorite since Embiid got injured.
“Plug and play in that system. If you [are] a certain player, you plug and play into that system. Because you ain’t going there to do what [Nikola] Jokić [is] doing…I like Jokić… just question the criteria. Like Joel, yes, he should still get this sh*t [the MVP award]…So now we go to who’s next? Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander or] Jokić. What is the criteria? Should Jokić get it because, yes, they [The Nuggets] are the best team, you gotta go through them, you gotta beat them to be dawned at, crowned at. So if we going off of that, then Jokić should be MVP. But if we [are] going off of the closing of the window of win percentage from year to year– like who’s the most valuable player on the team? Who is most valuable to their team? And it’s hard because Jokić is very valuable to the Denver Nuggets, but what Shai is doing is special, right?
He continued, “Nobody thought OKC would be in this position for at least the next five years…So [when it] comes to criteria, I don’t know what the criteria is. I would give it to Shai just because of what I said: him bringing OKC back, putting them not even in playoff contention…they could win the West. So, that right there is a lot of work that you have to put in night in and night out. We know Jokić is doing that. But for someone else to show…that they’re putting this team on [their] back, putting this city on their back…we haven’t seen that in a long time.”
Anthony makes a great point about Gilgeous-Alexander's impact on his team as a now serious contender in the West. The Thunder guard is averaging 31.1 points per game, 6.6 assists and 5.6 rebounds per game in 50 games played. His play has led the Thunder to be the top-ranked team in the Western Conference, tied in the loss column with the Timberwolves, Nuggets, and Clippers.
Carmelo Anthony also was complimentary of the Thunder organization, saying that they are well-run.
“OKC and Sam Presti are the best to do it when it comes to bringing guys in with transparency like ‘listen here’s your plan…we’re gonna do this and that. All I want to see is you hit the marks. If you hit those marks by year three, you’re going to have a very important role on this team.’ If you look at OKC, that’s why they’re successful today. Because all of those guys develop every year. None of those guys were stars, Sam developed those guys…Even Shai!”
Bomani Jones asked if the Thunder were the best run team that he played for, in which Carmelo Anthony enthusiastically agreed.
“Yes! Yes. To me that’s the best ran organization when it comes to understanding the needs of players and understanding how to communicate with players and hold them accountable. When I got there…There wasn’t no type of culture. Russ and those guys was doing their thing but they were guys who grew up in OKC. So it wasn’t any real culture. When I got there it was like, alright we’re gonna bring a little bit of flair, we ain’t trying to be what was here before and Sam [Presti] understood that. He worked with us and gave us our own marks…If we didn’t hit the marks, Billy Donovan wasn’t coming in there talking to us, It was Sam Presti was the one to come down on us. When he did that I had a newfound respect for Sam Presti on the business side.”
Gilgeous-Alexander looks to continue his stellar season as he prepares to play fellow MVP contender Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday at 3 PM EST. the game will be televised nationally on NBA TV.
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