Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards is never afraid to speak his mind, as his hundreds of thousands of dollars of fines this season make abundantly clear. His most recent comments won’t cost him any more money, but they will make headlines. 

Edwards called Shai Gilgeous-Alexander the “MVP of the NBA” after the Oklahoma City Thunder star dropped 40 points in a 113-105 win over the Timberwolves on New Year’s Eve. 

“To me, he’s unguardable,” Edwards said per ESPN. “As far as any one-on-one matchup, yeah, you can go on and give it up. Just give him two points most of the time. So I think you got to trap him. Maybe that don’t work, but you got to try it. For sure you got to send a second body, especially if he got a favorable matchup. Anytime he got somebody that he knows can’t guard him, he’s going to score every time.”

Gilgeous-Alexander has been on a tear lately, with three 40 point outings in his last five games. In December, he averaged 33.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.5 steals on 56.3/36.6/91.0 shooting splits. Hearing Edwards’ high praise was particularly meaningful. 

“No offense to you guys in the media, but the best satisfaction is when your peers and the guys that do the same thing for a living at a very high level that you do recognize and respect your craft and your talent,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “That’s a really good feeling. Obviously the caliber player he is, the sky’s the limit. Hard-fought battle tonight.”

With Gilgeous-Alexander leading the way, the Thunder have ripped off a 12-game winning streak that has given them a five-game lead atop the Western Conference standings. At 27-5, they’re on a 69-win pace, which would be the best season in franchise history. The last few weeks in particular have been an impressive response after the Thunder were embarrassed by the Milwaukee Bucks on a national stage in the NBA Cup championship game. 

The combination of his own stellar play and the Thunder’s hot streak has made Gilgeous-Alexander the MVP favorite in the betting markets. Heading into the New Year’s Day slate, he was at -110 at Caesar’s Sportsbook, ahead of three-time MVP Nikola Jokic at +125 and two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo at +600. 

There is still more than half of the season remaining, but if Gilgeous-Alexander does go on to win MVP, he will be the third Thunder player to do so, joining Kevin Durant (2014) and Russell Westbrook (2017).