This stretch of January around Martin Luther King Jr. Day is usually peak evaluation time in the NBA front-office world. It’s one of the milestone points where teams will have full-staff pow-wows and talk things out,

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has his 27th 30 point game of the season. Most 30 point games in the NBA. SGA has scored 30+ in 61.4% of his games.Source: Twitter @BrandonRahbar

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has sat at the very top of the NBA MVP rankings over the last several weeks. This battle between him, Nikola Jokic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo has been close, but now there is a wide gap between Gilgeous-Alexander and the rest of the field.

The Knicks and Nuggets are surging, while the Warriors watch their window close. Meanwhile, the Cavs and Thunder have their business on lock.

Gilgeous-Alexander has made it to the postseason on three different occasions, and he's still seeking his first NBA title. His longest playoff run came in 2024, when the Oklahoma City Thunder were eliminated in the Conference Semifinals.

Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein reveals what makes superstar teammate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander special after win over Blazers.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with a career-best 54 points on 17-of-35 shooting, eight rebounds and five assists. He shot 3-of-10 from 3 and went 17-of-18 at the free-throw line.

In mid-December, Denver’s Nikola Jokic had a healthy lead on Gilgeous-Alexander in ESPN’s MVP straw poll, conducted several times over the course of each season by Tim Bontemps.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a career-high 54 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 123-114 home win over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday.

The NBA will announce the 2025 All-Star reserves on Thursday. Both conferences will have seven players named — two backcourt players, three frontcourt players and two wildcard selections. They will join the five starters to create a 12-player roster for each conference.

It has been a great season for Isaiah Hartenstein of the Oklahoma City Thunder and he is currently on pace to do something nobody has ever done in franchise history.