Kendrick Perkins joins "First Take" to break down why he thinks LeBron James is playing better than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at the moment.

An unglamorous role player is a glamor franchise’s secret weapon. And a lifeless squad could use a spark. Let’s open up the notebook to run through three NBA trends that have caught my eye over the past week: Alex Caruso was in a familiar place: The Oklahoma City Thunder were up big as he approached MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at the top of the key.

During the NBA's Sunday ESPN slate, Brian Windhorst revealed that folks around the league don't view the Thunder as a threat to them. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has led the youthful group to one of the most dominating regular seasons ever.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 27 points, Chet Holmgren had 22 points and 17 rebounds, and the Oklahoma City Thunder rebounded from a stunning collapse with a game-changing blitz in the fourth quarter to beat the Brooklyn Nets 129-121 on Wednesday night.

Keeping the Oklahoma City Thunder within striking distance, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander showed out against the Brooklyn Nets with fancy moves inside the paint. It was another day in the office where the opposition had no answer for the MVP candidate.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander narrowly missed a triple-double with 35 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists, leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 128-104 win over the Atlanta Hawks way back on Oct 27. Chet Holmgren added 25 points,

Quinn Allen's best NBA picks and lineup for playing DraftKings' NBA Pick6 on March 5, featuring Shai Gilgeous-Alexander odds, Tyler Herro odds, and James Harden odds.

The Los Angeles Lakers will continue their six-game homestand on Thursday night as they take on the Minnesota Timberwolves at Crypto.com Arena. This matchup marks the first leg of a back-to-back for the Lakers,

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 27 points, Chet Holmgren had 22 points and 17 rebounds, and the Oklahoma City Thunder rebounded from a stunning collapse with a game-changing blitz in the fourth

Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander saw his team return to its stifling defensive identity in Wednesday night’s 120-103 win against the Memphis Grizzlies. For Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA’s top-ranked defense hasn’t been the same lately before the Thunder held Ja Morant and the Grizzlies’ offense to 103 points on 40.7% shooting.

With roughly five weeks remaining in the 2024-25 NBA regular season, the race for MVP is still up in the air. Barring injury, it's a two-man race between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokić, but there are a lot of interesting debates to be hard for the positioning of players behind them.