Valencia's TJ Shorts named EuroLeague MVP of October

TJ Shorts (175-G-1997, college: UC Davis) has wasted no time making his mark at Valencia Basket. The point guard, who joined the club this past summer, has been named the Euroleague Basketball MVP of the Month for October after leading it to a 6-3 record over the first nine games of the season.

That start follows a summer of major change in Valencia. After reaching its first-ever EuroLeague Final Four last season, the club saw EuroLeague Coach of the Year Pedro Martinez and several key players leave for other clubs, among them All-EuroLeague First Team guard and Playoffs MVP Jean Montero. TJ Shorts stepped into the lead guard role and has kept Valencia winning.

TJ Shorts averaged 17.1 points, 5.7 assists, 1.8 rebounds and 0.9 steals per game through nine appearances. He ranks third in the EuroLeague in both scoring and assists and is tied for second with 20.7 PIR per game. In Valencia's six wins, he posted a combined +89 plus-minus.

“Obviously, everyone knows about my story about last year, how it went. For me, it was just a learning experience. And now to be here in Valencia, to be back in a role where I can really excel, I feel confident. I feel like I've just got a breath of fresh air to be able to play basketball again. I've really enjoyed being here so far in Valencia,” TJ Shorts stated responsively.

TJ Shorts's biggest night came in Round 7, on his return to former club Paris Basketball. Back in the city where he became an All-EuroLeague First Team selection, he poured in 25 points with 9 assists and 4 rebounds for a season-high 34 PIR in a 93-104 Valencia win. The home crowd chanted “MVP” at the visiting point guard throughout the night. TJ Shorts sees plenty of similarities between his 2024-25 Paris team and this season's Valencia squad.

“The first thing is just the pace that we play at. Everyone knows when we were in Paris, we were playing very up-tempo basketball, very fast, shoot a lot of threes, a lot of transition basketball. And now here in Valencia, it's very similar, almost an identical system, a system where I feel like I can flourish, which is part of the decision why I decided to come here. You just see a lot of those similarities. Obviously, it's different players, but when everyone buys into the system, you can be very successful. So far, we've had our successes early in the season. And now we just want to continue this way to hopefully do something great as the season continues,” TJ Shorts said.

Valencia leaned on TJ Shorts from opening night, when he scored 26 points, including the go-ahead basket, with 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal and a 20 PIR in a 94-96 win at Besiktas Istanbul. He handed out 10 assists to go with 12 points, 1 steal and a 20 PIR in a 111-88 rout of Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz. He then had 17 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 block and a 22 PIR in a 92-105 win at LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne, and 15 points, 7 assists, 1 steal and a 17 PIR in a 93-82 home win over Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv.

Against defending champion Olympiacos Piraeus, TJ Shorts had 16 points, 1 rebound, 5 assists, 3 steals and an 18 PIR in a 97-102 overtime loss, and he added 9 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and a 13 PIR in an 88-91 defeat to Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv. After Paris, he scored 23 points with 2 rebounds, 3 assists and a 25 PIR in an 86-78 win over Fenerbahce Tarfin Istanbul. He closed the month with 11 points, 1 rebound, 5 assists, 2 steals and a 17 PIR in a 98-94 loss at FC Barcelona.

TJ Shorts said Valencia has tuned out the doubters since the offseason: “I think a lot of people probably ruled us out, like we're not going to be in the playoff picture. We're not going to be doing this. We're not going to be doing that. And for us, we want to just eliminate all those expectations. We want to focus on getting better every day in practice, showing up every day for each game and just giving our all. And then the results will do the talking. So for us, obviously, we use those things as motivation, like any player does.”

The MVP of the Month award is now in its 21st season. The winner is named by Euroleague Basketball based on his and his team's performance during the month in question. The October award covered Rounds 1 to 9, with Rounds 1 and 2 played in late September.

This is the second MVP of the Month award of TJ Shorts's career. The first came with Paris in November 2024, only his second full month as a EuroLeague player, in a season he finished with averages of 19.0 points and 7.3 assists and a place on the All-EuroLeague First Team. After averaging 8.1 points for Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens last season, he is producing at that level again in Valencia.

TJ Shorts is also just the second Valencia player to be named MVP of the Month, joining Nikola Kalinic (February 2021), and the club will count on him to keep it rolling as the regular season moves into November.