Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has a commanding lead in the MVP race, according to the latest straw poll conducted by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps.
The Thunder star would be the seventh player this century to win back-to-back MVPs. The others: Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Steve Nash, Tim Duncan.
Bontemps reaches out to 100 likely voters to get a snapshot of where the race stands.
Gilgeous-Alexander received 78 first-place votes. Jokic received 18. San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama had three first-place votes and Detroit’s Cade Cunningham had one, although Cunningham finished ahead of Wembanyama in the overall vote.
ESPN MVP straw poll
- 1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder
- 2. Nikola Jokic, Nuggets
- 3. Cade Cunningham, Pistons
- 4. Victor Wembanyama, Spurs
- 5. Luka Doncic, Lakers
Our Thunder beat writer, Justin Martinez, and I voted in the poll.
Martinez ballot
- 1. Gilgeous-Alexander
- 2. Jokic
- 3. Cunningham
- 4. Doncic
- 5. Wembanyama
Mussatto ballot
- 1. Gilgeous-Alexander
- 2. Jokic
- 3. Wembanyama
- 4. Cunningham
- 5. Jaylen Brown, Celtics
Eleven players in all received votes. You can see the full results over at ESPN.
The most important number in the MVP race is 65 — the minimum number of games a player must play to be eligible for the award.
If a player misses 18 or more games, they’re out.
As of Monday morning, here’s how many games each of the top-five has missed: SGA (9), Jokic (16), Cunningham (6), Wembanyama (14), Doncic (12).
SGA’s abdominal injury looms large in the race. The Thunder star has missed the last seven games. He’s expected to be reevaluated later this week.
“In terms of the decisions, we’re always going to prioritize the well-being of our players — him and everybody else,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said Feb. 20. “Shai understands that, the guys understand that. The 65-game thing everybody is aware of, and we want all of our players to qualify for that not because of the awards, but because we want to prioritize availability.
But when guys have stuff going on, we’re always cautious and always as conservative we can be because that’s the best thing for our team and more importantly for their individual careers.”
Let’s get to the rest of this week’s edition of Mussatto’s Minutes:
Sean Pedulla signs two-way with Clippers
Sean Pedulla is set to become the 49th Oklahoma high schooler to debut in the NBA, according to basketball-reference.com.
The former Edmond Memorial star signed a two-way contract with the Clippers on Feb. 19. Pedulla had been playing with the G League Rip City Remix, the Trail Blazers’ affiliate.
Pedulla averaged 19.7 points per game as a senior in 2020-21 at Edmond Memorial. He was named to The Oklahoman’s Super 5 and All-State teams.
Pedulla is set to join Heritage Hall’s Trey Alexander as the second player from The Oklahoman’s 2021 Super 5 roster to play in the NBA.
Six Oklahoma preps products have debuted in the NBA since 2016: Josh Richardson (Edmond Santa Fe), Shake Milton (Owasso), Trae Young (Norman North), DaQuan Jeffries (Edmond Santa Fe), Lindy Waters III (Norman North) and Alexander (Heritage Hall).
OU softball’s power binge
Kasidi Pickering, Kendall Wells and Ella Parker hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in OU’s 15-2 win against Washington on Sunday.
It was a three-homer game for Parker. Wells, a freshman, hit six home runs in six games at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, California.
The Sooners (13-2) are up to 56 home runs for the season — an average of 3.7 home runs per game.
Most home runs in college softball (home runs per game)
- 1. OU: 56 (3.7)
- 2. UCLA: 44 (2.8)
- 3. Florida: 40 (2.1)
- 4. North Carolina: 35 (2.5)
- T5. Houston: 32 (2.3)
- T5. Marshall: 32 (1.9)
OU is on pace to crank north of 200 home runs. That’s an unrealistic number — opposing pitching gets a lot better in SEC play — but it’s not crazy to think the program-record of 161 home runs in the 2021 season could be broken.
Jocelyn Alo led the ‘21 Sooners with 34 home runs. Tiare Jennings and Kinzie Hansen hit 27 and 24. Grace Lyons (14), Lynnsie Elam (12), Jana Johns (12) and Nicole Mendes (10) all cracked double-digits.
Wells leads OU with 10 home runs. Five other Sooners have at least five: Gabbie Garcia, Kasidi Pickering, Ella Parker, Allyssa Parker and Isabela Emerling.
Kyle Daugherty takes over as Comets GM
Kyle Daugherty is entering his first full season as general manager of the Oklahoma City Comets — a role Daugherty assumed last April when Michael Byrnes, who had served as president and GM of the team since 2010, stepped down to head the 2028 Olympic planning efforts in OKC.
Daugherty’s role is new, but this will be his 16th season with the organization.
The Comets will host the Albuquerque Isotopes on opening night, March 27, at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.
What does it mean to you to be in this position?
Daugherty: “It’s a dream come true. Growing up as a kid realizing I wanted to work in sports, this gives me an opportunity to — I want to be at the highest level — that’s the opportunity I’ve had over the last year. It’s a lot of learning, a lot of, ‘Hey, I thought I knew everything but now I’m learning a lot.’ It’s been a fun, exhausting adventure, but it’s been great.”
What does your job as GM entail?
Daugherty: “First and foremost, I’ve got such an unbelievable team. So for me it’s making sure I’m supporting them and doing my best to foster innovation and thought and creative ability for them. I’m kind of the ultimate cheerleader. Obviously I’m guiding the strategy, but leaning on them.”
One year in, what’s been the response to the new Comets branding?
Daugherty: “It’s been great. The people have loved the experience of coming out to the ballpark. We do surveys at the end of every single game, and our rate was 8.8 out of 10 through thousands of surveys throughout the year. Fans are really excited about the experience and say great things, but it’s been really fun, you know we worked so long on the Comets rebrand process, to see people wearing it, see people falling in love with it out in the community.”
Where does the partnership between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Comets stand (the previous ownership group, led by Dodgers co-owner Peter Guber, sold the team in 2021 to Diamond Baseball Holdings. The Comets remain the Triple-A affiliate of the Dodgers).
Daugherty: “Our (Professional Development League) agreement runs through 2030, and so as we get closer to the end we’ll start working through what that renewal looks like. It’s such a great relationship working with them and supporting their players to create a winning environment.”
Are there positive effects you guys see being affiliated with the back-to-back World Series champions?
Daugherty: “Absolutely. The talent at the LA level is so high, there are guys with us that traditionally would be with the major league teams at most affiliates. So for us, we get to see the highest caliber of baseball being connected with that LA program.”
Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads NBA MVP race despite injury
