The case for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was simple. He’s the best player on an Oklahoma City Thunder team that had the best record this season and set a league mark for margin of victory. If that wasn’t enough, he also won the scoring title.
That’s an MVP year.
Gilgeous-Alexander was announced Wednesday as the NBA’s Most Valuable Player, his first time winning the award. It’s now seven straight years that a player born outside the U.S. won MVP, extending the longest such streak in league history.
And when it happened, Gilgeous-Alexander said a life of moments — getting cut, traded, overlooked, celebrating, the wins, the good times — all flooded into his mind.
“I don’t think there’s enough emphasis on how much off the court influences on the court,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “And once I became better off the court my career started to skyrocket. It’s no coincidence.”
It ultimately was a two-person race. Gilgeous-Alexander got 71 first-place votes and 29 second-place votes; Denver’s Nikola Jokic got the other 29 first-place votes and the other 71 second-place votes.
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo was third, getting 88 of the 100 possible third-place votes.
Gilgeous-Alexander — the No. 11 pick in the 2018 draft — averaged 32.7 points, 6.4 assists and five rebounds per game this season, leading the Thunder to a 68-14 record. The Thunder outscored teams by 12.9 points per game, the biggest margin in league history.
He becomes the second Canadian to win MVP; Steve Nash won it twice.
“He set the foundation,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of Nash. “He was the first Canadian basketball player I knew of. And without seeing guys go to the NBA from Canada, it wouldn’t have been as much of a dream as it was for us as kids growing up. So, to be in a conversation with a guy like that and what he has meant to not only basketball but to the country of Canada, it’s special.”
And Gilgeous-Alexander is the first guard to win MVP since James Harden in 2018.
“His value is his confidence,” Oklahoma City’s Kenrich Williams said of Gilgeous-Alexander, his Thunder teammate for the last five seasons. “His confidence that he has in himself and the confidence that he instills in every one of his teammates, including the coaches.”
Jokic — a winner of three of the last four MVP awards — was second, despite a season for the ages. He averaged 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists per game, the first center to average a triple-double and the first player since all those stats were tracked to finish in the NBA’s top three in all three of those categories.
It was the sixth instance of a player finishing a season averaging a triple-double — at least 10 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds per game. Russell Westbrook did it four times and Oscar Robertson once, but only one of those triple-double seasons led to an MVP win.
“He’s a special player,” Jokic said of Gilgeous-Alexander earlier this week when the Thunder eliminated the Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinals. “His shot selection, his shot capability … he’s always there. He’s a special player.”
Antetokounmpo, who averaged 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game, was third. He started this run of international players winning MVP; Antetokounmpo, of Greek and Nigerian descent, won in 2019 and 2020.
Jokic, a Serbian, won in 2021, 2022 and 2024. And Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, who was born in Cameroon but since became a U.S. citizen, won the award in 2023.
Now, it’s Gilgeous-Alexander — a son of Ontario, where hockey reigns — carrying the MVP flag. He was fifth in the voting two years ago, second behind Jokic last year, and used being so close to the award as fuel this season.
“There are voters every year. That will never change,” Gilgeous-Alexander said on TNT during the broadcast when the results were revealed. “And last year, all it meant was that more people thought I shouldn’t have won than should have won. This year I wanted to change the narrative and have it flipped. I think I did a good job of that.”
Boston’s Jayson Tatum was fourth, Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell was fifth and the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James was sixth — the 20th time in his 22-year career that he got some MVP votes.
Detroit’s Cade Cunningham and Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards tied for seventh, Golden State’s Stephen Curry was ninth and three players — the Los Angeles Clippers’ Harden, New York’s Jalen Brunson and Cleveland’s Evan Mobley — tied for 10th.
The MVP award, like most other NBA honors, was voted on by a global panel of 100 writers and broadcasters who cover the league and cast ballots shortly before the start of the playoffs.
The other awards that were part of that voting process and have already been unveiled: Cleveland’s Kenny Atkinson winning coach of the year, Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels winning most improved player, San Antonio’s Stephon Castle winning rookie of the year, Cleveland’s Evan Mobley winning defensive player of the year, New York’s Jalen Brunson winning clutch player of the year and Boston’s Payton Pritchard winning sixth man of the year.
Other awards announced by the league since the end of the regular season: Golden State’s Stephen Curry won the Twyman-Stokes teammate of the year award, Warriors teammate Draymond Green won the hustle award, Oklahoma City’s Sam Presti won executive of the year and Boston’s Jrue Holiday won the sportsmanship award for the second time in his career as well as the league’s social justice award.
The award came at a price for Gilgeous-Alexander, who is in line for an extension that will easily top $300 million and could even see him make about $1 million per regular-season game in 2030-31 and 2031-32.
He promised teammates watches if he won the MVP; those guys have those watches now, and they deserve all that and more, he said.
“This is nothing compared to what they’ve been to me,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I would rather have the MVP over a Rolex every day of the week and without them, I wouldn’t have the MVP.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.