In an NBA Season that showcased the extraordinary, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s ordinary shone the brightest
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Posted By: Jordan Davis on April 15, 2026 Let me make sure to emphasize “Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s ordinary” because there’s absolutely nothing that he’s been doing in comparison to the rest of the Association that would be deemed as ordinary. Therein lies his absolute dominance as a player, though, because this season has felt like the last four for the soon-to-be two-time MVP Guard. Since the 2022-2023 NBA Season, SGA has been above 30 Points Per Game (PPG), on historic efficiency (between .626- and .665 True Shooting %, and between 27.2 and 30.8 PER), while gearing up for another easy 1st-Team All-NBA Selection signifying that for the 4th straight year he was at the very least a top 5 player in basketball, all while starting in the 2023-24 season leading a while talented, young group of players in the league on the Oklahoma City Thunder to their 3rd consecutive 1st place finish atop the brutal Western Conference. Fox Sports and First Things First Host Nick Wright on April 9th brought up a hypothetical to long time NBA Insider and NBA Awards Voter Chris Broussard and that was if SGA wins a 2nd MVP, and a 2nd NBA Championship (both which he’s favored to do currently) does that vault him past some of the greatest guards we’ve seen in the game like Dwayne Wade, John Stockton, James Harden, Allen Iverson, and Steve Nash, and in his words “is he fighting and clawing for the 5th best Guard ever with Isiah Thomas?” to which the roundtable agreed and even First Things First host Kevin Wildes said “I don’t even think that is much of an argument”. And when you delve into just how brilliant SGA has been, how could you argue? With the regular season officially concluding on Sunday April 12th, SGA secured the highest ever Field Goal Percentage (FG%) by a guard who averaged over 30 a game passing Michael Jordan at 55.3%, and this feat comes just 2 years after he finished 3rd all time in the same category behind 2 MJ seasons further showing that SGA belongs in that very rarefied air. How do you stand out though in a season where your direct competition for Most Valuable Player is a pool of candidates that includes a former 3-time MVP, a finals MVP, an all around offensive savant who’s leading the league in scoring, a smooth operating Point Guard who’s leading the top team in the Eastern Conference, and… oh yeah a 7’5 force who may be the best defensive player since Bill Russell? Each of these great players in any other season would lay claim to the MVP Award. Starting with the former three-time league MVP, who has his eyes on a second championship himself, Nikola Jokic. Easing his way into a 2nd straight season averaging a triple double, “The Joker” found a way in 2026 to find a new 1st for him if that was still even possible; becoming the 1st player in NBA history to lead the league in both rebounds (12.9) and assists (10.7) while still pouring nearly 28ppg himself, all while being highly efficient himself. Sports Illustrated writer Logan Struck began his article about Jokic’s end-of-the-year review simply asking, “Did Nikola Jokic just wrap up the greatest statistical season in NBA History?” I don’t think there’s much in the way of arguing it. Following 6-time All-Star Jayson Tatum’s Achilles tear in the 2025 playoffs, there were arguments about whether Jaylen Brown would carry the load and keep the Boston Celtics afloat. After all, despite winning both the NBA Eastern Conference Finals MVP Award, along with the NBA Finals MVP, and being a 4-time All-Star prior to this season, Jaylen was mostly looked at as the Robin to Jayson’s Batman in terms of the Celtics hierarchy. There was no hope in preseason for the Celtics making much of any noise without Tatum this year, even leading to trusted Boston/New England Sports Network (NESN) to discuss the possibility of the Celtics throwing in the towel on the season before it even began naming a video of theirs on July 31st before the season started “Are the Celtics Quietly Tanking for 2026?” And from a distance, Brad Stevens, Joe Mazzulla, and the Celtics roster would seem brilliant for doing so, with the key losses of not only Tatum, but Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis, and Luke Kornet, who all played vital roles in helping the Celtics capture their 18th championship in 2024. Despite this, Brown took the doubt, and took being written off into having by far the best season of his 10 year career thus far posting career highs in points (28.7), rebounds (6.9), assists (5.1) and Free Throw Percentage (FT%), whilst leading the Celtics to a 56-26 record and 2nd in the Eastern Conference showing that even what was supposed to be a down year for Boston is a year that they need to be taken seriously. Which moves me to Luka Doncic, who’s continued his history-making plays now in his 8th season in the Association. Getting to spend his 1st full season with the Los Angeles Lakers after being dealt during the deadline last season, Luka who already has had a ridiculous start to his career posting the 3rd highest career points per game average only after Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain respectively at 29.2ppg somehow took it up a notch in the 25-26 season leading the league in scoring at 33.5ppg, while still getting his 7.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists a game but there in lies the gift and a curse from the Lakers superstar. We’ve become so used to how truly elite Doncic is on the offensive end that putting up a season of averaging 34,8,8 a game is almost back-page news from a guy whose career averages are 29,9, and 8. “He’s playing as well as anybody in the NBA right now. It’s probably not being talked about enough,” said Lakers Head Coach JJ Redick, and speaking as someone who was once Luka’s teammate in Dallas to now coach in L.A, Redick knows more than anybody that the 27-year-old global star isn’t new to this kind of output on a nightly basis. That shouldn't take away from how amazing it's been, though. Tying Russell Westbrook and Stephen Curry as the only Point Guards in NBA History with 2 scoring titles each, whilst having more 1st-team All-NBAs than both with 10 years to spare. Being the engine on a Lakers team that went 53-29 in the Western Conference, to boot, and yes, Luka like Luka every year, is an easy top 3-4 player in the world and will always be in these conversations. However a newcomer to these convos is Detroit Pistons Guard Cade Cunnigham, but his play from the past 2 years is gonna ensure that he’s a mainstay like an SGA, Luka, and Jokic have been as the 5th year guard out of Oklahoma State, led a team that just 2 seasons ago finished with the worst record in the league at just 14-68, to their 1st 60 win season in 20 years. Cade said in an NBA.com interview with Shaun Powell: “My whole goal from day one was to come in here and turn the Pistons organization around.” Cade's leadership, now under 2nd-year Head Coach JB Bickerstaff, feels like a man who understands and has understood the weight that would have to be placed on his shoulders to make the Pistons relevant once again. Unlike just about everyone else on this list, the Pistons aren’t known for their superb front office that has kept them afloat and great, or any amazing rotation of players. The Celtics and Lakers will find a way to be competitive long after Jaylen Brown and Luka Doncic have played their last games, respectively. Well, that isn’t the case here with the Pistons, missing the playoffs in 12 out of 20 times since their last championship in 2004, before the last couple of seasons where the 6 '6 Guard has taken off. On the surface, his production looks arguably worse than his 1st All Star season in 2024-25. Points down from 26.1 to 23.9, FG% down from 46.9 to 46.1, 3PT% down from 35.6 to 34.2, FT% down from 84.6 to 81.2, and even rebounding taking a dip from 6.1 to 5.5, but even the biggest stat nerds can tell you his game went up another notch this season. Most of them, all in my personal opinion, being the assists went up from 9.1 a season ago to nearly 10 a game this year at 9.9, and that level of facilitating speaks to how advanced he’s become as a floor general for a team that needs one. The emergence of 1st-time All Star Big Man Jalen Duren can be attributed in a lot of ways to Cade’s playmaking. “Playing with a guy like that makes the game way simpler, for me, for the team, for the offense. He gets it done every night.” Duren said about the MVP candidate, and with Cade at the helm, expect him and the Pistons to be contenders for the foreseeable future. Where do I even start with this last guy? Well, let me start by saying he certainly won’t come in last in MVP voting to finish this season, which would be an incredible accomplishment for the 3rd year Physics-defying Big Man Victor Wembanyama. A worrying thing for the rest of the 29 teams in the league is that he’s already much better than that. “He’s either the 3rd or 4th best player in the league now,” said long-time NBA commentator Bill Simmons, which is an unprecedented placement for a 22-year-old without having even played a playoff game yet. The aforementioned Chris Broussard took it a step further and plainly said “I am ready to say he’s the best player in the world, because of the way he impacts defensively.” And Broussard’s take on Wemby’s defense is spot on. Per 100 possessions, Wemby’s defensive rating was 104.5, which is 11 points better than the league average, while also leading the league in defensive rebound percentage, block percentage, defensive win shares, and defensive BPM (Box Plus/Minus) and this all adds up to not only him being easily the best defensive player in the game today, but on a short list of greatest defensive players in the history of the league. All while laying claim to becoming the very 1st player in history to average 25ppg and at least 10rpg playing less than 30 mins a night, and leading the 2nd best team in the NBA this season, and the most casual of basketball fans can see why Wemby will be winning more than a few MVP awards in the near future. Not this year’s MVP, though. Despite those amazing feats from his contemporaries, SGA’s game-to-game steadiness at such a high level makes this year's MVP decision an easy one. Whether it be on the incredible scoring averages on the ridiculous efficiency as shown earlier, historic consistency that saw him break Wilt Chamberlain’s 63-year old record of consecutive games scoring at least 20 points which now SGA has at 140 straight games, or the amount of winning his team is doing and #2 for the Oklahoma City Thunder is showcasing that it doesn’t take reinventing the way the game is played, or being built like a skyscraper to show why you can be the star amongst stars. If you enjoyed this article, Join HBCU CONNECT today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
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Jordan Davis
Camera Operator, Journalist, Broadcaster, and Host, University of the District of Columbia University of the District of Columbia class of 2025 Member Since February 2024 |
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