As we pass the halfway point of the NBA season, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is currently the favorite to win the 2024-2025 NBA Most Valuable Player award, according to the Kia MVP Ladder. This season, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 32.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and 2.0 steals for the Thunder, who remain in first place in the Western Conference standings. Everything in that last sentence would make perfect sense as to why Gilgeous-
According to Basketball Reference, Jokic leads Gilgeous-Alexander in Player Efficiency Rating, Win Shares, Field Goal Percentage, and Three-Point Field Goal Percentage. This suggests that voters may be valuing team success more than usual, as Oklahoma City sits at 36-8 while Denver is 28-16. But this raises questions about consistency in MVP voting. For example, in the 2016-2017 season, Russell Westbrook won MVP over James Harden despite the Thunder finishing sixth in the Western Conference while the Rockets finished third. Westbrook did have a historic season, averaging a 30-point triple-double, but Harden finished with 29.1 points, 11.2 assists (league-leading), and 8.1 rebounds on better efficiency than Westbrook.
The NBA’s MVP voting has long been inconsistent, and what we are witnessing now is another case of voter fatigue. This term refers to voters growing tired of repeatedly acknowledging the same player, even if that player continues to perform at an elite level. Michael Jordan experienced this during his career. In the 1992-1993 season, Jordan led the league in scoring (32.6 PPG), steals (2.8 SPG), and Win Shares, guiding the Bulls to 57 wins and the second seed in the East. However, since Jordan had won back-to-back MVPs, voters opted to award Charles Barkley instead. Barkley had just joined the Suns, who captured the league’s best record with 62 wins, while Barkley averaged 25.6 points and 12.2 rebounds—despite not leading the league in any major categories. Barkley’s narrative was more compelling to voters, but Jordan got the last laugh, defeating Barkley and the Suns in the Finals.
LeBron James is an
