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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander builds lead in ESPN’s final MVP straw poll
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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander appears to be closing in on winning the 2025 NBA MVP award.
The former Kentucky guard is once again atop ESPN’s MVP straw poll, which was published by Tim Bontemps on Wednesday morning. The straw poll has correctly predicted the winner of the NBA’s MVP award in each of the past 5 seasons.
In Wednesday’s edition — the final straw poll of the season — Gilgeous-Alexander earned 931 total points. He also led the way with 77 1st-place votes. Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, who has already won 3 MVPs in his career, is running in 2nd with 769 points and 23 1st-place votes.
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Gilgeous-Alexander slightly built upon his lead from ESPN’s previous straw poll, which was published in mid-February. In that poll, Gilgeous-Alexander 70 1st-place votes compared to 30 for Jokic.
Gilgeous-Alexander is in the midst of one of the best scoring seasons for a guard in NBA history. He’s averaging a league-leading 32.8 points per game on a career-best 64.1% true shooting percentage. Perhaps most importantly, he’s led the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 63-12 record through 75 games. The Thunder currently have a 16.5-game lead over the No. 3-seeded Nuggets in the Western Conference.
While Kentucky has produced numerous NBA players over the years, Gilgeous-Alexander has a chance to be the program’s first NBA MVP. Gilgeous-Alexander finished 2nd to Jokic last season.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
