When the Oklahoma City Thunder's historic regular season came to a close and Mark Daigneault took to the podium, he was asked about his take on the MVP discussion.
The fourth-year head coach made sure to use his response as an opportunity to highlight his star player — Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
"There is not a night where I don't feel like we have the best player on the floor," Daigneault said post-game. "We're a top-five defence, top-five offence. He's a two-end player that contributes to both of those things."
His comments came after the Thunder, led by Gilgeous-Alexander, crushed the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday to earn the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. If that wasn't enough, the victory also made OC the youngest team in NBA history to clinch a No. 1 seed and also the youngest to win 57 games in a season.
"I think his consistency, his poise, his confidence, has an unbelievable contagious effect," Daigneault continued. "When you look at what he did this year, what seeds he planted in previous years, there's no one I'd rather have on our team than him."
A lot of the Thunder's success throughout the season can be attributed to the play of their All-Star guard, a 25-year-old Hamilton native.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished the regular season with averages of 30.1 points (third in the NBA), 5.5 rebounds, 6.2 assists, and two steals. It not only lines him up for a second-consecutive All-NBA selection, but more notably, puts Gilgeous-Alexander deep in the MVP mix.
If he pulled it off, he'd be the second Canadian ever to win the award, after Steve Nash took home the hardware in back-to-back seasons between 2004-2006.
However, the competition is stiff with two-time MVP Nikola Jokic as another favourite to take home the award, along with the likes of Luka Doncic, who finished the year as the NBA's top scorer (33.9 points per game).
Oklahoma City is back in the playoffs for the first time since 2020 and is a top seed for just the second time since relocating from Seattle. In 2013, the last time they were atop the Western Conference, OKC was led by the likes of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Serge Ibaka.
The Thunder finished last season as the 10th seed with just 40 wins. In what ended up being a career year for the guard, they improved by 16 wins.
Daigneault wasn't the only member of the Thunder organization to publicly back Gilgeous-Alexander's MVP case. Teammate Chet Holmgren took to social media, agreeing with a post made by Fox Sports personality Skip Bayless on SGA's case for the award.
This outpouring of support comes a couple of days after NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal, along with Kenny Smith sided with Gilgeous-Alexander for MVP on Inside the NBA on TNT.
"Denver has had great success," Smith said. "But the individual success in the team's greatness has been higher in SGA."
Whether he wins or not, it's clear the sixth-year guard has cemented himself as one of the best players in the league, and someone who'll likely be in these kinds of discussions for years to come.
And for what it's worth, he'd like to pick up an MVP for the effort he's put in this season.
"I hope I get it, yes," Gilgeous-Alexander said post-game, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN. "Whatever happens, happens, but whoever gets it is deserving for sure."
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