In the minds of many NBA fans and prognosticators, Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shut down the MVP conversation with a 129-126 win over the Denver Nuggets last night. Alexander rose up and hit a three-pointer that sealed the hard-fought victory, and broke Wilt Chamberlain's record for consecutive 20-point games on the night. But, according to ESPN's Stephen A. Smith believes the race is not over yet, as Celtics star Jaylen Brown still has a shot at a title.
He explained his theory on Tuesday Morning Edition take first.
"Jaylen Brown is one of the top two candidates for league MVP. We've got two road games this week in San Antonio and then against Shea Butters and Oklahoma City. Now, Jaylen Brown, that's going to go a long way for us to see...You see, we don't need to see Shea Butters. Because when you look at Shea Butters, he's already the league MVP. He's already an NBA Finals MVP. He's already an NBA champion. Jaylen Brown is too, but Jaylen Brown was the number two option.
Smith continued, "Now you've got to understand, even though you've got Tatum back, he's still feeling his way back. It's still you, Jaylen Brown. Where are you going to get to San Antonio, when you get to Oklahoma City, what are you going to do?"
While Alexander has been the steady hand guiding the defending NBA Champions to another unprecedented regular season, Brown definitely has a claim to a shot at MVP after the season he had for the Celtics. Both Alexander and Brown are featured in ClutchPoints senior NBA reporter Brett Siegel's latest "MVP Monday." Alexander sits comfortably at the top of Seagull's rankings while Brown sits at number five behind Cade Cunningham, Victor Wembanyama and Nikola Jokic.
In 57 games played, Brown is averaging 28.7 points, 7.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game with one steal. He is shooting 48% from the field and 34.8% from three-point range. He has been the catalyst for the Celtics' success as they have remained in the conversation without Jayson Tatum for most of the season.
But it's certainly hard to top the MVP moments provided by Alexander, especially when the Thunder have also dealt with injuries to key contributors. Still, the Thunder and Celtics are meeting on Thursday, and a lot of questions will be answered in a head-to-head matchup that could be an NBA Finals preview.
