The recent semifinal matchup between the OKC and the Dallas Mavericks saw Shai Gilgeous-Alexander coming out on top. During his 41 minutes on the court, the player recorded a score of 33 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists. Unfortunately, his contribution was not enough to put his team on top, as the Mavericks came back with revenge and secured a win by a score of 119-110. Despite the final result, controversial sports commentator Skip Bayless went out of his way to give credit where credit was due.

Some time ago, the 72-year-old took to his official X account to highlight details from the recent game. He praised Shai Gilgeous-Alexander by stating that his performance could have earned him the ‘MVP’. At the same time, he dismissed the efforts of the player’s teammates: Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, by stating that SGA “had very little help” during the game.

Jalen Williams was someone who had been averaging 20.6 points in the last 5 games. He continued maintaining the same during the recent matchup by scoring 20 points through his 7-17 field goals. Chet Holmgren also was on par with his average score, contributing 11 points during his 37 minutes on the court. However, it was still lower than the 19 that he had scored during the previous game. The overall contribution by Williams, Holmgren, and Gilgeous Alexander was enough to defeat the Mavericks by a 22-point margin during the previous game. However, the same didn’t work out this time.

While the players may not have performed up to Skip Bayless’s standards, they did have some memorable moments. With just 1.4 seconds remaining in the 1 quarter, Chet Holmgren scored a buzzer-beater to add three more points to the OKC score. After Cason Wallace failed to get the ball through the hoop, Williams acted instantly and performed a putback as the crowd at the Paycom Center let out a huge cheer. However, there is no denying the fact that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the one who truly captured the hearts of the onlookers in the arena. With 13-24 field goals and remarkable ‘step-through’ movements during the matchup, the spotlight would have been on him if Luka Doncic and co hadn’t stolen his thunder with their win.

The “degree of difficulty” faced should have earned Shai Gilgeous-Alexander the MVP title

Prior to the results being announced, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was in tight contention with Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic for the MVP title. However, with 99 votes that culminated into 926 points, it was the Nuggets star who was voted as the recipient of the honor for the third time in four years. The Clippers player came second with 640 points. Highlighting the same on his ‘Undisputed’ show, Skip Bayless first highlighted his stance on why Gilgeous-Alexander was snubbed.

“To me, it screamed for Shai to win it because the degree of difficulty for him to lift that team all the way to the top of the West, it’s hard man.” said the host. “And you did it out of nowhere, off a year in which you were ‘Sub 500’, that’s what you call ‘Most Valuable Player’, because he did that. Almost by himself, he did”.

During the regular season, the Thunder had a 40–42 win record by the time February arrived. However, a competitive drive by the lead scorer helped them to reach 50 wins and secure a higher seed on the points chart. Shai’s efforts helped the team earn a spot in the playoffs for the first time since 2020. After securing a successful run there, they went into the Semifinals for the first time since the 2015-16 season. While this made the player an MVP contender, it wasn’t enough to win over the members of the media who voted in the ballot.

Do you agree with Skip Bayless as well? Let us know in the comments down below.