Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is halfway through his season, and the number of 30-point games he has already had is unprecedented.
The Oklahoma City Thunder knocked off the Minnesota Timberwolves in a defensive slugfest on Saturday night. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was able to power the Thunder to a victory capped off by a massive step-back triple to put the OKC Thunder up late in Minnesota.
Superstars Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Anthony Edwards spent their post-games taking light jabs at each other following this matchup. While the two potentially spark the next great NBA Rivalry, Gilgeous-Alexander was making history on the hardwood.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores another 30 points on his road to become one of the greatest NBA players of all time.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has somehow pampered folks in Bricktown to the point that a 30-point game with six assists, two rebounds, and two steals but only shooting 45 percent from the field, 1-for-2 from three, and 12-for-13 is considered a mediocre performance.
However, fans quickly realized that this was no standard 30-point contest. Not only did Gilgeous-Alexander power the Thunder to their second win over the top team in the West in this tries, putting Oklahoma City just a game back of the top spot in the conference, but he joined some elite company.
Now, 41 games into this season, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has logged. 30, 30 point+ games joining a short list of NBA greats ever to do it.
Wilt Chamberlin (5), Michael Jordan (2), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Nate Archibald, Rick Barry, Elgin Baylor, and Luka Doncic are the only other players ever to pull off this feat.
This season, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 31 points, five rebounds, six assists, and a league-high 2.2 steals per game. The OKC Thunder superstar has turned in shooting splits of 55/32/89 so far this season.
There is no doubt Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has firmly planted himself in the MVP conversation. In fact, he has an increasingly strong argument to be the leader in the clubhouse at this point in the season.
With as many games as 76ers superstar Joel Embiid has missed and possible voting fatigue working against Nikola Jokic, Gilgeous-Alexander is the next in line to earn his flowers in this category.
Nonetheless, the Oklahoma City Thunder have seen Gilgeous-Alexander develop throughout his entire career, trading for him following his rookie season, and it has built to this point as an MVP leader.
