How great can you be at your job before people just do not care anymore? It is a question relevant in all walks of life. The NBA is no exception to this.
Shams Charania broke the long-awaited news of who would receive this year's NBA MVP trophy on Twitter/X today. As many expected, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder will be this year's recipient.
Breaking: Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has won the NBA MVP award, sources tell ESPN.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 21, 2025
Gilgeous-Alexander is a strong MVP winner. A dominant individual and team campaign helped secure the Canadian point guard's his first ever trophy in this prestigious category.
The NBA has not officially released the voting results yet, but many expect Nikola Jokic to have claimed a second place finish. That would be the second time in three seasons that the Denver Nuggets superstar secured the runner-up spot.
First MVP: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the No. 1-seed Thunder to a league-high 68 wins and became the second player in NBA history to average at least 30 points on 50% shooting, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1 block per game along with Michael Jordan (1987-88, 1990-91). https://t.co/4updI0h7xP
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 21, 2025
The superstar point guard in Oklahoma City had a phenomenal season, as highlighted by Charania above. However, it is difficult to not see this victory having resulted strongly from some good old voter fatigue for the Serbian big man in Denver.
Jokic falls victim to a fate LeBron James knows all too well
Back in March, this result was painfully obvious to predict, and this editorial did just that. Today, that fate has officially become a reality.
The argument is not that Gilgeous-Alexander falls short of being a deserving MVP. In almost any other season, the Thunder superstar would be a comfortable and unquestioned favorite. It just does not feel like this was the year to crown him with that achievement.
Jokic, suffering from a far worse supporting cast than that of Gilgeous-Alexander's, put up a season unlike any other in NBA history. The dominant big man became the first center in league history to average a triple-double.
That is not the most impressive feat either. The three-time MVP also became the first player in NBA history to finish in the top three of per game averages for points, rebounds, and assists. Jokic accomplished that while also being second in the NBA for steals per game too.
In doing so, Jokic dragged the Nuggets to a 50-win season despite the chaos of an underperforming roster and a late-season coaching change. Denver enjoyed a +21.3 efficiency differential with the former Finals MVP on/off the court per 100 possessions, according to Cleaning The Glass.
Jokic registered the second-best box plus/minus (13.28) in a single NBA season with this historic campaign. The Nuggets center only trails himself from 2021-22 (13.72) in that category.
A familiar name places third on that list, and it's LeBron James from 2008-09. The difference between this Jokic season and the other two campaigns in the top three is they both won that year's NBA MVP.
Players like Jokic, James, Michael Jordan, and those rare few have often been victims of their own success. Their continued dominance breeds disinterest among voters who have seen it all before.
Somehow, some way, even when Jokic managed to outdo himself with a new level of excellence in 2024-25, it was still not good enough to be recognized as employee of the year. The Serbian superstar is probably too busy with his horses to care anyhow.