NBA
Charles Barkley says SGA will lead Thunder to title and earn MVP honors
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All posts by Antonio KozlowUpdated3 hours ago on May 09, 2025
After losing their first game of the Western Conference semifinal series against the Nuggets, OKC bounced back and proved why they’re entered the NBA Playoffs as the No. 1 seed with a impactful victory in Game 2, beating Denver by 43 points (149-106) on Wednesday night.
After the series was tied 1-1, Charles Barkley made the bold statement of placing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at the top of the MVP race, saying that he will not only earn this accolade, but also lead Oklahoma City to the title. “I think that team’s gonna win the championship,” Chuck said about the Thunder.
There’s no wonder the Hall of Famer was inspired, as he had just witnessed OKC’s historic 87-point first half. “This is the best defensive team in the NBA, and this guy right here [SGA] is the MVP,” he said during the halftime show. “They can already extend it to him. We’re gonna see him in the Western Conference Finals when he gets his MVP trophy.”
Shai and Nikola Jokic continue to lead the MVP race as this campaign’s favourite candidates. While the Serbian produced an impactful double-double in the Nuggets‘ Game 1 win, Gilgeous-Alexander responded in Game 2 with 34 points on 11-of-13 shooting from the field and a perfect 11-of-11 from free throws.
“I mean, obviously, when you lose some of the pieces that they had defensively, it led to a lot of question marks. But, I’ve said it before, SGA is going to win the MVP. He the best player in basketball. It’s orthodox, it ain’t the s**iness that people want that come along with it, but he can dislodge anybody off their spot,” Jalen Williams said about his teammate.
This certainly is SGA’s best campaign in his seven-year career, as he was crowned the 2024-25 scoring champion with a 32.7 point average by the end of regular season. The 26-year-old has algo put on averages of 6.4 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 1.7 steals on 51.9 percent shooting.
“You don’t really have a weak link,” Isaiah Hartenstein said about OKC’s teamwork. “When you have your stars playing at a high level defensively, everyone has to lock in. Just seeing your top guys are making those sacrifices, everyone kind of has to buy in. So I think that it starts with them and then the rest.”
