Shai Gilgeous-Alexander faces brutal rejection as he loses to Nikola Jokic in historic landslide

The new NBA season has not even started, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has already been handed his first loss against Nikola Jokic. On Monday, ESPN analyst and NBA insider Tim Bontemps published his offseason survey, where he discussed the trade market deals and signings made by the teams during the offseason.

During one segment of his survey, Bontemps conducted a preseason poll with fellow insiders to reveal the next season's MVP favorite. The voting results came down to three players leading the pack: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, and Luka Doncic.

Jokic emerged as the favorite to win the award among the insiders and analysts with seven votes in his bag, while SGA managed to collect only five, and Doncic hung around the two top with four votes.

"Jokic is the best player, and they'll be better," a Western Conference scout said.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander eclipsed the Denver Nuggets superstar last season when he won the 2024-25 MVP award while averaging 32.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game on 51.9% shooting from the field

However, the Joker had an equally great individual run last season. He averaged 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists on 57.6% shooting from the field. Later in the survey, Bontemps asked the insiders and analysts on his panel to vote for the best player in the league right now.

It was a landslide win for the Nuggets star as Nikola Jokic received 19 out of 20 votes in his favor while SGA had none. Lakers star, Luka Doncic was the only other player to receive a vote in his favor. It is for the first time that a player has shown such great dominance over his peers when it comes to being the best player on the court in the analysts' eyes.

"As long as he's walking and breathing, it should be him," one Eastern Conference executive said about Nikola Jokic being the best player.

Later in his survey, Bontemps revealed that Nikola Jokic is the only player in history to be selected as the best player for a third time in ESPN's offseason surveys.

Shaquille O'Neal reveals Nikola Jokic's problem on the court

Shaquille O'Neal is one of the league's all-time greatest. He is often regarded as the most dominant player of his era because of his understanding of the game and thge brute strength he used in his plays.

After retiring from the league in 2011, Shaq transitioned into an analyst job, where he shared his expertise in his craft with others and broke down other players' games. On Sept. 14, the Lakers legend appeared in an episode titled "Tommy Talks with Shaquille O'Neal!" on the "Ausmerican Aces" YouTube channel.

During his appearance, the Lakers legend discussed Nikola Jokic's game and explained how he would beat the Nuggets star by exploiting his weakness.

"playoffs, I would probably be 40, 14 rebounds, three blocks. You know, he’s a different player,” Shaq said. "However, if he's going to guard me one-on-one, hopefully he's not going to be in the game a lot because the first 10 possessions I'm going at him." (Timestamp: 10:43)

"If he was a post player and I would just have to focus on them, he wouldn’t get that much cuz I saw when he was playing in the post against Dwight Howard, he had problems, but because they run a lot of pick and rolls, you have to help on the guard; they throw it back, he shoots. But him guarding me, I’m averaging 40."

While Shaq believes he would have crushed the Joker, there is no way to confirm in today's world. For the fans, a Shaq against Jokic matchup is nothing but a fever dream that can be completed only in video games.