NBA insider reveals James Harden wanted Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to win maiden MVP ahead of 'best player' Nikola Jokic
This season’s NBA MVP race is largely viewed as a head-to-head showdown between OKC Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic. With no fixed formula for the award and final decisions left to the voting panel, former MVP James Harden weighed in with the players’ perspective.
A common MVP argument often favors the best player on the best team — a narrative that aligns with Gilgeous-Alexander. But Jokic, despite already having three MVPs to his name, is averaging a triple-double and arguably playing the best basketball of his career, making a compelling case of his own.
Fox Sports NBA insider Rachel Nichols shared Harden’s thoughts on the matter, saying players do see Jokic as the league’s best, but they’re rooting for SGA to take home the award. Nichols said:
“I talked to James Harden for a little bit this morning before the Clippers left for Denver, and I said, 'Who's the best player?' And he said, ‘Well, no question, Jokic is the best player.’ But even he said, ‘All the players, we want to see Shai win MVP because of the season he had and the winning.’
“And I think that really factors in for them more than maybe some people on the outside are just looking at stats, stats, stats, stats, stats, see it, but he goes, but of course, Jokic is the best player.”
Harden, who won MVP in 2018, famously lost the 2017 race to Russell Westbrook — who earned the honor as the first player since Oscar Robertson to average a triple-double. Jokic now becomes the third player to accomplish that feat.
Rachel Nichols casts her MVP vote for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
On the “Open Floor” podcast by Sports Illustrated, Rachel Nichols revealed her personal MVP choice: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
“I have to preface it by saying this was extremely hard. It came down to the tiniest hair of tiniest hairs,” she said. “And I think what's going to end up happening is you are going to see Shai Gilgeous-Alexander winning the MVP.
“I had to go with Shai because — and I would have gone with Jokic by the way, because he had an incredible individual season — but I had to go with Shai because of team wins. I mean, he led to this team to almost 70 wins with the way they play offense and defense.”
In ESPN’s latest MVP straw poll — which mimics the official voting structure — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander emerged as the frontrunner, collecting 77 first-place votes and 23 second-place votes, totaling 931 points. Jokic received all remaining first and second-place votes, finishing second with 769 points.