Shannon Sharpe brutally tells Stephen A. Smith ‘you wasted your vote’ if he goes for NBA star in league MVP race

Plus, a look at how the Western Conference standings stack up with eight games left to play

 

STEPHEN A. Smith has his pick for NBA MVP, but Shannon Sharpe isn’t buying it.

Shannon Sharpe and Stephen A. Smith were discussing the potential MVP candidates for the NBA, and Stephen A. has given his full endorsement to one of the league’s rising stars.

Shannon Sharpe is not a fan of Stephen A. Smith's NBA MVP pick
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Shannon Sharpe is not a fan of Stephen A. Smith’s NBA MVP pickCredit: ESPN

Stephen A. endorsed OKC's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for NBA MVP
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Stephen A. endorsed OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for NBA MVPCredit: Getty
“Everybody keeps talking about Jokic. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander right now is my leading candidate for league MVP,” Stephen A. said.

Shai is having a fantastic season for the Oklahoma City Thunder. He is averaging 30.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game on 53.9 percent shooting.

He also made his second All-Star Game appearance this year in his sixth year in the league.

Gilgeous-Alexander was drafted No. 11 overall by the Charlotte Hornets in the 2018 NBA Draft but was traded on draft night to the Los Angeles Clippers.

He played his rookie season with the Clippers before getting traded again to the Thunder, where he has been for the last five years.

Shai has blossomed into a star player since joining the Thunder, but Sharpe isn’t convinced he is the MVP this year.

He gave Stephen A. a simple answer about his vote.

“You’re wasting your vote,” Sharpe said.

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Stephen A. didn’t think that was a fair answer and provided some stats to explain his MVP vote to Sharpe.

“Did you notice there’s been about 40 games where Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has dropped over 30,” Stephen A. responded.

“We just gonna ignore that? As a top-two seed in the West?”

The Thunder have been flip-flopping back and forth between the No. 1 and No. 2 seed with the Denver Nuggets throughout the year.

Currently, the Thunder hold the top seed by just half a game at 52-22 compared to the Nuggets 52-23 record.

With eight games left in the season, none of them being against the Nuggets, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder will have to power through a tough remaining schedule including the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks to clinch the top seed.