Oklahoma City is dealing with a myriad of injuries to begin the season, and its leader has to continue his greatness to keep the team afloat.
On Sunday night, disaster struck for the Thunder, as they lost Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace to injuries. With both players set to be out for months and potentially the entire season, the Thunder's title hopes have taken a severe hit.
Of course, it's impossible to count out the Thunder as long as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is on the floor. The two-time MVP came into the season with the near-impossible task of earning a third straight, but the Thunder's situation has suddenly opened a case for him once again.
Despite the Thunder's new injury situation, they still managed to secure a win against the Phoenix Suns on Monday night to remain undefeated, moving to 4-0. With a Wednesday night battle in Dallas on the horizon where Oklahoma City will be even further shorthanded, Gilgeous-Alexander will have to step up his play once again.
One of the league's best scorers, Gilgeous-Alexander has been the focal point of the Thunder offense virtually since his arrival in Oklahoma City. However, this will be one of his biggest challenges yet.
Keeping the Thunder afloat and nothing more would be an understandable and attainable goal. Of course, this Thunder squad still has championship hopes, regardless of the status of Williams and Wallace.
Thus, it will be on Gilgeous-Alexander to try to keep the team in the hunt for the best record in the West. It certainly won't be an easy task, but that's why it would create such a clear case for another MVP award.
Although losing Wallace is new territory for the Thunder , the team was without Williams for several large chunks of last season. Gilgeous-Alexander is no stranger to leading his squad without his All-NBA running mate, which makes the idea of Oklahoma City remaining at or near the top of the West reasonable.
With nagging injuries seemingly taking out some portion of the Thunder's depth consistently, Gilgeous-Alexander's numbers will likely have to be among the best of his career to keep Oklahoma City in the mix for the No. 1 seed. Altogether, the Thunder's injury situation could decimate their postseason, but their MVP may have enough in the tank to keep it from altering the regular season too drastically.
In this era of the NBA, no one wins three MVPs in a row, but Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder are in a unique situation with another 78 games to play.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nba/thunder/onsi as OKC Thunder Need Another MVP Campaign from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander .
