Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Shaq makes his final pick for this year's NBA MVP

By Sai Mohan | Last updated 3/27/24

Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal is picking the Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA) over the Nuggets' Nikola Jokic as this year's NBA MVP.

Shaq made his choice on Tuesday's "Inside the NBA" on TNT shortly before OKC rallied back from a 20-point deficit to beat New Orleans, 119-112. In a game that went down to the wire, SGA's three with 1:29 left swayed the momentum in his team's favor.

"The MVP is SGA," O'Neal declared. "I saw a stat the other day that he's one of the few in history to have 50 30-point games in a season. And he meets my criteria — the baddest player in the game and their team is 49-21 [50-21 after the win]."

When asked why he's picking Gilgeous-Alexander over Jokic, O'Neal cited the Thunder guard's ability to get clutch buckets on a nightly basis.

"He has 50 30-point games. Nobody else is doing that," O'Neal said.

SGA is the fifth player in the last 35 seasons to drop 50 or more 30-point games in a season ⚡️

He joins Michael Jordan (2x), James Harden, Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady pic.twitter.com/XYtL7MuYVD
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 21, 2024

Besides being embroiled in a two-horse MVP race that could come down to the wire, SGA and Jokic are also battling for the No. 1 seed out West.

With Denver (51-21) barely clinging to the top seed over OKC (50-21), voters could ultimately reward the player whose team finishes with a better record. That's because, in terms of both counting and advanced stats, the MVP front-runners are nearly inseparable.

For the sake of argument, though, several factors are working in Gilgeous-Alexander's favor. For starters, his Thunder beat the Nuggets 3-1 in their regular-season series. Second, he has uplifted a team that was sub .500 last season and was projected to win 45 games this year, per ESPN forecast.

Jokic, meanwhile, is doing what was expected of him on his defending champion Nuggets.

Oftentimes, the MVP comes down to storylines and SGA's underdog narrative could sway voters in his favor. With less than three weeks left in the season, voters have much to ponder before submitting their final ballots.

“The MVP is SGA. Period. … He’s the baddest player in the game and their team is 49-21.”@SHAQ has his pick for MVP pic.twitter.com/nPbCZGouob
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) March 26, 2024