
NEW YORK — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander pauses to consider the question. Does winning MVP matter? It’s Wednesday, about an hour after Oklahoma City’s predictable rout of the free-falling Nets, and the league’s reigning MVP is putting the finishing touches on an outfit—black leather pants, black mesh top—only he can pull off. Gilgeous-Alexander collected 20 points against Brooklyn, his 130th consecutive game of scoring 20-plus, a Joe DiMaggio–esque streak that whenever it ends will likely never be broken. On a nearby whiteboard reads a simple instruction: Bus to restaurant: whenever Shai is ready. And Shai is not quite ready.
“I definitely want to win,” says Gilgeous-Alexander. “Of course.”