Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the betting favorite to win NBA MVP

Could a former Kentucky Wildcat finally win the NBA’s top individual award? Nearly halfway through the 2024-25 season, the folks in Las Vegas sure think so.

According to FanDuel, Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the betting favorite (-160) to receive the league’s Most Valuable Player honor. Gilgeous-Alexander, 26, is currently having the best season of his still-young career. The former Wildcat (2017-18) is averaging 31.3 points, 6.1 assists, 5.6 rebounds, two steals, and 1.2 blocks in 34.7 minutes per contest on shooting splits of 52.2/35.5/89.

Now in year seven as a pro, Gilgeous-Alexander is coming off a 2023-24 season that saw him finish second in MVP voting behind three-time winner Nikola Jokic. SGA finished fifth in voting the season prior to that. As the best player on the best team in the Western Conference (OKC is 30-6), this could be the year he finally gets over the hump. He’s in line to make his first All-Defensive Team, as well.

But it’s not just the bettors who believe in Gilgeous-Alexander’s MVP chances. On Friday, NBA.com writer Shaun Powell moved the Thunder guard up to first in his latest batch of MVP Power Rankings. Gilgeous-Alexander is a lock to make another All-Star Game as a starter. In the second round of All-Star fan voting released on Thursday, he was once again the top vote-getter among Western Conference backcourt players with 1,811,050 votes.

What SGA has done this season is nothing short of extraordinary. The 6-foot-6 native of Canada posted a new career-high of 45 points back in November to get the season rolling. He tied that mark a month later. The result was back-to-back Western Conference Player of the Month awards. His stellar play continued into the new year as the Thunder reached a 13-game win streak, the longest in franchise history. That streak reached 15 games before OKC fell to the league-leading Cleveland Cavaliers earlier this week.

Somewhat surprisingly, Kentucky has never produced an NBA MVP. Dan Issel finished second while playing for the ABA’s Kentucky Colonels during the 1971-72 season, but he was never a serious MVP candidate once he made the move to the NBA. Last season was actually the closest any UK player has come to winning MVP.

Other former ‘Cats have finished in the Top 10 before, per Basketball-Reference: Anthony Davis came in third during the 2017-18 season, Devin Booker fourth in 2021-22, John Wall seventh in 2016-17, Rajon Rondo eighth in 2011-12, Julius Randle eighth in 2020-21, and Cliff Hagan ninth in 1958-59. Karl-Anthony Towns could soon join this list as well. He currently has the seventh-best odds to win this season’s MVP.

But this is still Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s basketball world. And we’re just along for the ride.