Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been the presumptive NBA MVP from more or less the moment the regular season ended. Sure, another historically awesome season from Nikola Jokic provided stiff competition, but Jokic had voter fatigue working against him, and SGA stuffed every area of the stat sheet while leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to 68 wins and the No. 1 seed in the rugged Western Conference.
Sure enough, the news was made more or less official on Wednesday afternoon, when ESPN's Shams Charania reported that Gilgeous-Alexander had in fact won his first MVP.
This should have been a triumphant moment, the crowning of one of the sport's next great stars as he enters arguably its most exclusive fraternity. And it probably would have been, if the NBA hadn't chosen the worst possible time to leak the news. But rather than everyone celebrating SGA's greatness — or at least debating whether he or Jokic had the more impressive of two all-time great seasons — basketball's foremost individual honor instead became an excuse for everyone to get mad online about foul-baiting.
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NBA picked the worst possible time to announce Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's MVP win
Less than 24 hours prior to his MVP win, Gilgeous-Alexander had drawn the ire of a significant portion of the NBA internet for his performance in the Thunder's win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals. SGA shot just 10-of-27 from the floor, but he still managed to finish with a game-high 31 points thanks to 14 free-throw attempts — double the next-highest total on either team.
Immediately, both Wolves fans and neutral observers were crying foul, accusing Gilgeous-Alexander of baiting contact and then embellishing that contact in order to get to the line. So, when SGA was named the best player in the sport, people weren't exactly in a celebratory mood.
It's inarguable that Gilgeous-Alexander does seek out contact — and once that contact arrives, he knows how to best position himself to get to the foul line. But it's also true that SGA can only take advantage of those situations because he's nearly impossible to stay in front of thanks to his silky handle and almost impossibly long limbs and loose athleticism. If excelling on the game's biggest stage were really as easy as selling contact, you'd think it would be much easier to do; and yet hardly anyone in the history of the league has been able to match the numbers SGA put up this season.
Of course, it's also true that Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder know exactly what they're doing, and that they benefit from a generous whistle on the other end that helps propel their fiercely physical defense. That combination is bound to produce some frustration, especially when it leads to wins in May and June. But it shouldn't take away from how special a player SGA really is, or how unique his season has been.