Thunder won’t let MVP eligibility cloud Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s recovery

Sometimes reality can slap your dreams in the face. The Oklahoma City Thunder got a taste of that on Thursday. While fans expected Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to return from his five-game absence due to abdominal pain after the NBA All-Star break in Superman style, they received the opposite.

Gilgeous-Alexander will miss at least four more games with his injury. He should be re-evaluated in about a week. With Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell remaining out, that puts the Thunder in a difficult situation facing a challenge of contenders in the East without a true ball handler.

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But more importantly, the MVP race just got a little interesting. For the longest time, it looked like Gilgeous-Alexander was going to win the prestigious award two years in a row. To the point that the real question was whether he would win unanimously. Now, this abdominal tension opens the door a little for someone else.

Gilgeous-Alexander only played in 49 of OKC’s 57 games. And given that he will miss at least three more, that will bring his total of missed matches to 11, or seven before disqualification. There’s no real concern that he’ll miss the NBA’s 65-game minimum rule to be eligible for awards, but every game missed allows someone else to gain national attention.

How will Gilgeous-Alexander’s quest for individual greatness affect his return? After all, his idol Kobe Bryant only won one MVP award. Two would put him in even rarer company. But according to Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault, not much, if at all.

“I’m going to leave the big picture aside. There are so many other people who think about these things a lot. I think about the Thunder. I think about my kids. That’s really what I think about,” Daigneault said. “So I don’t know. I’m not going to touch on that topic. But in terms of decisions, we will always prioritize the well-being of our players and everyone else.”

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This is probably the safest approach to take. I will say though that it helps the Thunder that Gilgeous-Alexander has so much cushion in both the eligibility threshold and MVP chances, which makes missing another week seem at least acceptable. Before that, he was one of the NBA’s most enduring superstars – knock on wood.

Gilgeous-Alexander remains the big betting favorite. Even if he lost part of his margin for error. But the rest of the MVP field is also battered and bruised. Candidates like Nikola Jokic, Victor Wembanyama and Luka Doncic are on the verge of being disqualified.

You never want to see Gilgeous-Alexander miss time, but the good thing about his injury is that it occurred near the NBA All-Star break. He was thus able to steal a week off without missing any matches. It looks like this could be the security OKC will rely on to win a second straight MVP trophy.

“The guys understand the 65-game thing. Obviously, everyone knows about it. We want all of our players to qualify for that, not because of the rewards, but because we want to prioritize availability,” Daigneault said. “But when guys have things to do, we’re always cautious and we’re always as conservative as possible. That’s the best thing for our team and, more importantly, for their individual careers.”

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Thunder won’t let MVP eligibility disrupt Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s recovery