{"id":532206,"date":"2026-03-11T01:10:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T01:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/532206\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T01:10:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T01:10:08","slug":"shai-gilgeous-alexander-has-ascended-the-2026-nba-mvp-ladder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/532206\/","title":{"rendered":"Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Has Ascended the 2026 NBA MVP Ladder"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s over. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a> wrapped up the MVP conversation.<\/p>\n

The Lead has been publishing a 2025-26 MVP ladder<\/a> every two weeks. The first edition had Nikola Jokic<\/a> as the front-runner for MVP, and he remained there until his injury. When Jokic returned to the ladder, he was No. 2 with some hope of regaining the top spot. That hope is gone.<\/p>\n

SGA\u2019s Historic Game<\/p>\n

There is no more argument about who deserves to win the MVP. On March 9, Gilgeous-Alexander finished a game with multiple headline-worthy accomplishments. A game-winning three, while scoring 35 points on 66.7% shooting, along with 15 assists, and was one rebound shy of his first triple-double since 2021.<\/p>\n

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He tied Wilt Chamberlain<\/a>\u2018s 20-point streak at 126 games, and did it all while committing zero turnovers. He hit 13,000 career points in this game as well. And, for all the haters, SGA only attempted four free throws.<\/p>\n

This was all against Jokic, the only person who was capable of catching him. Jokic brought a tightly contested game within one point, then Gilgeous-Alexander hit a three. Jokic answered back with a three-pointer of his own, and Jamal Murray<\/a> added in a game-tying free throw after a loose-ball foul.<\/p>\n

Three seconds left, all-tied up, SGA nails the winning three.<\/p>\n

This game was the culmination of the entire MVP race. Jokic closed the gap while Gilgeous-Alexander was injured, then SGA returned and separated again.<\/p>\n

Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s Historic Season<\/p>\n

This game was also the culmination of Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s entire season. This all happened on the night he tied Chamberlain\u2019s 20-point record, something that was two seasons in the making. It was also another 30-point game on over 50% shooting, something only Gilgeous-Alexander can do from the guard position.<\/p>\n

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He is also averaging the third-best single-season true shooting percentage for a guard in NBA history<\/a>, and is the only person other than Stephen Curry<\/a> in the top five.<\/p>\n

SGA has averaged 30+ points per game on 50% shooting for four straight seasons. That doesn\u2019t put him in Chamberlain or Curry conversations; that puts him in Michael Jordan<\/a> conversations. For how good SGA was last season, he\u2019s even better this year.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, it feels as if people don\u2019t understand what they are watching. Gilgeous-Alexander isn\u2019t just a great scorer or an elite scorer; he is one of the best scorers in NBA history. He\u2019s the best scoring guard since Curry, while being more efficient than Kevin Durant<\/a>, who has multiple 50\/40\/90 seasons.<\/p>\n

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If SGA\u2019s offense is what makes him an all-time player, his defense is what separates him as a decade-defining player. He\u2019s third<\/a> in opponent paint field goal percentage this season out of all guards. He is also part of one of the best defensive lineups<\/a> in the NBA. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander might be a better offensive player than Jokic, while being a drastically better defender at his position.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no reason to write MVP ladders for the rest of the season. Gilgeous-Alexander is the MVP, barring injury, and is the best player in the NBA. He should be the front-runner at the start of next year, with the opportunity to be the first player since Larry Bird<\/a> to win three-straight MVPs.<\/p>\n

The post Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Has Ascended the 2026 NBA MVP Ladder<\/a> appeared first on The Lead<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s over. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wrapped up the MVP conversation. The Lead has been publishing a 2025-26 MVP ladder…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":532207,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[20453,64,30097,63,12835,7900,12989,43498,3901,7216,5662,12834,22952,590,3906,3907,12841,85,7903,43114,39792],"class_list":{"0":"post-532206","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-anthony-edwards","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-austin-reaves","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-deaaron-fox","13":"tag-demar-derozan","14":"tag-desmond-bane","15":"tag-gilgeous-alexander","16":"tag-jamal-murray","17":"tag-kevin-durant","18":"tag-kon-knueppel","19":"tag-mikal-bridges","20":"tag-mvp","21":"tag-nba","22":"tag-nikola-jokic","23":"tag-nuggets","24":"tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","25":"tag-sports","26":"tag-stephen-curry","27":"tag-tyler-herro","28":"tag-wilt-chamberlain"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=532206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/532207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=532206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=532206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}