{"id":274464,"date":"2025-04-19T04:38:07","date_gmt":"2025-04-19T04:38:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/19\/nba-insider-reveals-james-harden-wanted-shai-gilgeous-alexander-to-win-maiden-mvp-ahead-of-best-player-nikola-jokic\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:08:48","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:08:48","slug":"nba-insider-reveals-james-harden-wanted-shai-gilgeous-alexander-to-win-maiden-mvp-ahead-of-best-player-nikola-jokic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/19\/nba-insider-reveals-james-harden-wanted-shai-gilgeous-alexander-to-win-maiden-mvp-ahead-of-best-player-nikola-jokic\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA insider reveals James Harden wanted Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to win maiden MVP ahead of &#8216;best player&#8217; Nikola Jokic"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"4881500\" data-slug-id=\"2480863\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>This season\u2019s NBA MVP race is largely viewed as a head-to-head showdown between OKC Thunder\u2019s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Denver Nuggets\u2019 Nikola Jokic. With no fixed formula for the award and final decisions left to the voting panel, former MVP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/basketball\/james-harden\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">James Harden<\/a> weighed in with the players\u2019 perspective.<\/p>\n<p>A common MVP argument often favors the best player on the best team \u2014 a narrative that aligns with Gilgeous-Alexander. But <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/basketball\/nikola-jokic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Jokic<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n<p><em>Fox Sports<\/em> NBA insider Rachel Nichols shared Harden\u2019s thoughts on the matter, saying players do see Jokic as the league\u2019s best, but they\u2019re rooting for SGA to take home the award. Nichols said:<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p><template id=\"bets-today-poll\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"preview-card-holder bets-today-poll\">\n<p><span class=\"date\"\/> \u2022 <span class=\"time\"\/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"march-madness-logo\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/march-madness-logo.png\" height=\"42\" width=\"99\" alt=\"march madness logo\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI talked to James Harden for a little bit this morning before the Clippers left for Denver, and I said, &#8216;Who&#8217;s the best player?&#8217; And he said, \u2018Well, no question, Jokic is the best player.\u2019 But even he said, \u2018All the players, we want to see Shai win MVP because of the season he had and the winning.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cAnd 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.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Harden, who won MVP in 2018, famously lost the 2017 race to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/basketball\/russell-westbrook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Russell Westbrook<\/a> \u2014 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.<\/p>\n<h2>Rachel Nichols casts her MVP vote for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/h2>\n<p>On the \u201cOpen Floor\u201d podcast by Sports Illustrated, Rachel Nichols revealed her personal MVP choice: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sportskeeda-embed\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/basketball\/embed\">\n<div class=\"yt-wrapper\">                    <noscript><iframe title=\"SGA or Nikola Jokic For MVP Was TOUGH | Rachel Nichols &amp; Chris Mannix\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bd3aFf0-ZSk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/noscript>                    <\/p>\n<div class=\"youtube\" data-embed=\"bd3aFf0-ZSk\">\n<div class=\"play-button\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" height=\"370\" width=\"660\" data-img=\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/bd3aFf0-ZSk\/sddefault.jpg\" data-img-low=\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/bd3aFf0-ZSk\/sddefault.jpg\" class=\"lazy-img\" alt=\"youtube-cover\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI have to preface it by saying this was extremely hard. It came down to the tiniest hair of tiniest hairs,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I think what&#8217;s going to end up happening is you are going to see Shai Gilgeous-Alexander winning the MVP.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI had to go with Shai because \u2014 and I would have gone with Jokic by the way, because he had an incredible individual season \u2014 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.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In ESPN\u2019s latest MVP straw poll \u2014 which mimics the official voting structure \u2014 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.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-author-info-parent\">\n<span class=\"about-the-author\">About the author<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"author-info-holder\">\n<div class=\"author-pic-holder\">\n<img decoding=\"async\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"author-pic\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,&lt;svg width=\" height=\"100\"\/><rect width=\"100\" height=\"100\" style=\"fill:rgb(128, 128, 128);\"\/>&#8221; data-lazy=&#8221;https:\/\/keedag.sportskeeda.com\/user-pic\/1253811-1730125987-200.jpg?w=200&#8243;<br \/>\nalt=&#8221;John Ezekiel Hirro&#8221; height=&#8221;72&#8243; width=&#8221;72&#8243;&gt;\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-bio-detail-holder\">\n<div class=\"author-bio\">\n<p class=\"author-bio\" id=\"author-bio-text\">\nJohn Ezekiel Hirro is an experienced NBA and WNBA journalist at Sportskeeda, with over five years in the field as a news correspondent, sports writer, and Editor-in-Chief. His sports writing career began in high school, where he garnered numerous accolades, including being named the national sports writing champion in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>He earned his journalism degree from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines in 2024 and served as the Editor-in-Chief of The Varsitarian, the university&#8217;s official student publication, for four years\u2014the longest in history.<\/p>\n<p>A passionate basketball enthusiast, he became a fan of the OKC Thunder during the Russ-KD-Harden era. Russell Westbrook, his all-time favorite athlete, impressed him by stepping up as MVP after Kevin Durant&#8217;s departure. His current favorite players include Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, who he believes are the future of the OKC franchise.<\/p>\n<p>He excels in game analysis and rapid news story turnaround, drawing inspiration from the journalistic styles of Woj and Shams. He emphasizes thorough research to ensure accuracy in his articles. One of his most memorable moments is Russell Westbrook breaking Oscar Robertson&#8217;s record with his 42nd triple-double and securing a 106-105 victory over the Denver Nuggets with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Outside of writing, he enjoys listening to music and creating Spotify playlists.\n<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"author-know-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/author\/hirrojohnezekiel-0b23b\" aria-label=\"Author know more\">Know More<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by John Ezekiel Hirro<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/basketball\/news-nba-insider-reveals-james-harden-wanted-shai-gilgeous-alexander-win-maiden-mvp-ahead-best-player-nikola-jokic\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] This season\u2019s NBA MVP race is largely viewed as a head-to-head showdown between OKC Thunder\u2019s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Denver Nuggets\u2019 Nikola Jokic. With no<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":274465,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[180],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274464"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274464\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}