 | Today we're looking at how Canada's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won the NBA MVP award — and why some voters preferred someone else. Plus, the playoffs get going at the men's hockey worlds, Ottawa can take charge of the PWHL title series, and the Leafs break up with Brendan Shanahan. | | | SGA was the correct pick for NBA MVP, but he wasn't everyone's | | | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named the NBA's Most Valuable Player last night, becoming just the second Canadian ever to win basketball's most prestigious individual award and the first since Steve Nash went back-to-back in 2005 and '06.
This wasn't a surprise. After finishing second in MVP voting last year to Denver's Nikola Jokic, the 26-year-old, 6-foot-6 guard from Hamilton, Ont., emerged as the clear favourite months ago and finished the regular season with an ironclad (and elegantly simple) case: he led the league in scoring and powered his team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, to the best record in the entire league.
Digging a little deeper into Gilgeous-Alexander's fantastic season, his 32.7 points per game put him well ahead of scoring-race runner-up Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks (30.4) and the third-place Jokic (29.6). In addition to becoming the first Canadian to lead the NBA in scoring, SGA averaged a career-high 6.4 assists along with five rebounds and 1.7 steals, which tied for fourth-most in the league and helped OKC to the No. 1 defensive rating along with the fourth-best offensive rating.
In a league where fans constantly complain about load management and stars not taking the regular season seriously enough, Gilgeous-Alexander was about as close to an Ironman as you'll get these days, playing 76 of the Thunder's 82 games. Among the top 15 scorers, only Minnesota's Anthony Edwards (79) suited up more often.
And SGA brought it every night. He scored at least 20 points in all but one of his games, including his last 72 in a row, giving him the NBA's longest single-season 20-point streak in more than 60 years. He also led the league in games with at least 30 points (49), 40 points (13) and 50 points (four), topping out at 54 in a January win over Utah.
Oh, and he's no chucker. Gilgeous-Alexander is just the second player in NBA history to average at least 32 points and six assists while shooting at least 50 per cent from the field in a season. The other is Michael Jordan.
And yet, the voting for the MVP trophy that's now named after His Airness was closer than you might think, given Gilgeous-Alexander's stellar resumé. He received 71 of the 100 first-place votes, with the other 29 all going to Jokic, the MVP winner in three of the four previous years. Antetokounmpo, a back-to-back MVP in 2019 and '20, came in third.
Jokic's Nuggets finished fourth in the Western Conference, 18 games behind the Thunder, which did a lot of damage to his MVP case. But the 6-foot-11 Serbian centre's numbers were arguably more impressive than SGA's. He averaged a triple double with 29.6 points, 12.7 points and — most incredibly, given his size and the position he plays — 10.2 assists.
To many fans, Jokic is also the more aesthetically pleasing player. This 284-pound giant is somehow the NBA's best (and most entertaining) passer, dishing out highlight-reel assists with stunning regularity. Meanwhile, some accuse Gilgeous-Alexander of being a "free-throw merchant" who excels in the dark art of drawing fouls, inflating his scoring numbers a la the polarizing James Harden in his prime.
Fair enough, as Gilgeous-Alexander sank an NBA-high 7.9 free throws per game this season — 1.4 more than Antetokounmpo and Atlanta's Trae Young, who tied for second. But Giannis drew far more attempts (10.6 to SGA's 8.8) and doesn't seem to face the same level of criticism.
True, Gilgeous-Alexander does tend to "sell" his opponents' fouls a lot, and some of his embellishments can look pretty silly from the right angle in slow-motion replay. But the referees often fall for them in real time, so can you really blame him for exploiting that edge? Doing whatever it takes to win — whether that's scoring, D'ing up or, yes, working the refs — is the calling card of a true MVP.
More trophies?
Gilgeous-Alexander won the Northern Star Award as Canada's athlete of the year in 2023 after placing fifth in NBA MVP voting and leading the men's national team to an historic bronze medal at the Basketball World Cup, where the Canadian men also clinched their first Olympic berth since Nash dragged his squad to the quarterfinals in 2000.
SGA was a top Northern Star candidate again last year after moving up to second in the MVP vote, leading OKC to the best record in the Western Conference and placing second in scoring at the Paris Olympics with 21 points per game. But Canada got bounced in the quarterfinals by host France (despite SGA's 27 points) while Summer McIntosh won three gold medals and a silver, making the swimming sensation the obvious choice.
The Northern Star voters might have another slam dunk on their hands this December, especially if Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy as NBA champions next month, which would almost certainly mean a Finals MVP for him as well. Oklahoma City is heavily favoured to beat Minnesota in the Western Conference final after blowing out the Timberwolves 114-88 in the series opener on Tuesday, with 31 points and nine assists (both game highs) by SGA. Game 2 is tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET
Maple-infused Finals?
There's a decent chance that the upcoming Finals will feature three Canadian starters, a Canadian sixth man and a star with a strong connection to Canada.
Joining Gilgeous-Alexander in the Thunder starting five is Montreal's Lu Dort, a rugged guard who averaged only 10 points this season but is one of the premier perimeter defenders in the NBA. If they get past the Timberwolves, who include SGA's cousin Nickeil Alexander-Walker in their rotation, the Thunder could face the Indiana Pacers, who have Canada's Andrew Nembhard starting at guard and Bennedict Mathurin as the first man off the bench.
Nembhard scored 15 points and Mathurin chipped in nine last night as Indy rallied from down 14 with less than three minutes left in regulation to stun the New York Knicks 138-135 in overtime in Game 1 of the Eastern final at Madison Square Garden. Nembhard has upped his averages to 14.6 points and 5.8 assists in the playoffs, while Mathurin is scoring close to 11 a game after averaging 16 in the regular season.
The Pacers' leading scorer and rebounder this season was Pascal Siakam, who helped the Toronto Raptors to their improbable NBA championship in 2019. So, while a small-market Finals matchup of Oklahoma City vs. Indiana might not thrill the suits at the league office or the TV networks, it could be pretty nice for fans up here in Canada. | | |  | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's MVP case was wonderfully simple: he led the NBA in scoring and powered his team to the league's best record. (Joshua Gateley/Getty Images) | | | Quickly… | | | Some other things to know:
1. The Maple Leafs parted ways with Brendan Shanahan.
Right as I was about to hit publish on this newsletter, the Leafs announced that they will not be renewing Shanahan's contract as team president, which is set to expire. The (hardly unexpected) news comes after Toronto once again failed to advance past the second round of the playoffs, thanks to Monday's ugly 6-1 loss to Florida in Game 7.
Last night in the playoffs, Edmonton blew a 3-1 third-period lead, giving up three quick power-play goals early in the final frame en route to a 6-3 defeat at Dallas in the Western Conference final opener. Tyler Seguin had two goals and an assist for the Stars, while Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two assists for the Oilers, who hadn't played since eliminating Vegas in five games a week earlier.
Game 2 is tomorrow night in Dallas, where the Stars have won seven in a row since losing their playoff opener to Colorado.
Tonight, the Carolina Hurricanes will try to snap their NHL-record 13-game conference-final losing streak when they host Florida for Game 2 of the East final. The Panthers won the series opener 5-2.
2. The playoffs are underway at the men's hockey world championship.
The United States defeated Finland 5-2 and Switzerland blanked Austria 6-0 in quarterfinal action today in Sweden and Denmark, which are co-hosting the tournament. At our publish time, Canada led Denmark 1-0 in the third period while Sweden was beating the Czech Republic 4-1.
Teams are re-seeded for the semifinals, so it's unclear who Canada would face on Saturday if Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon and company can get past the Danes. Canada and Switzerland won their groups, Sweden and the United States each placed second, the Czechs were third and Denmark was fourth. Here's the latest.
3. Ottawa can take charge of the PWHL final.
The Charge (see what we did there?) lead the best-of-five championship series 1-0 after Emily Clark's overtime goal gave them a 2-1 win over defending Walter Cup champ Minnesota on Tuesday night. Game 2 is tonight at 7 p.m. ET in Ottawa.
No one from the Charge or the Frost was among today's finalists for the regular-season MVP award. The nods went to Montreal Victoire captain Marie-Philip Poulin, Toronto Sceptres defender Renata Fast and Boston Fleet forward Hilary Knight. The reigning MVP, Toronto's Natalie Spooner, missed half of the season due to a knee injury suffered in last year's playoffs. The winner will be announced June 25.
The expansion draft for the PWHL's incoming Vancouver and Seattle franchises will take place on June 9, with the six current teams allowed to protect only three players each. Here's a full explainer from CBC Sports' Karissa Donkin. | | | That's it for today. Talk to you later. | | | | Not subscribed? Sign up here to get the Buzzer delivered to your inbox. Got an idea, question, comment or other feedback on the newsletter? Drop us a line at thebuzzer@cbc.ca. | | | Share this newsletter | | or subscribe if this was
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