Thunder Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Wins NBA MVP

In a vote that comes as no surprise, Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been selected as NBA MVP for the 2024-25 season, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

Gilgeous-Alexander is the best player on the team that finished with the best record in the league (68-14) and has been in the MVP conversation for several years now. This year, he finally won it.

“Gilgeous-Alexander led the No. 1-seed Thunder to a league-high 68 wins and became the second player in NBA history to average at least 30 points on 50% shooting, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1 block per game along with Michael Jordan (1987-88, 1990-91),” Charania wrote.

While the voting isn’t official, Gilgeous-Alexander likely edged out Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, a three-time winner of the award. NBA MVP is a regular-season award, but for the record, SGA and the Thunder edged Jokic in the Nuggets in seven games in the Western Conference semifinals.

Oklahoma City currently leads the Western Conference finals by a 1-0 series count over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points and passed for nine assists in the 114-88 victory.

A three-time All-Star, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 32.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.4 assists during the regular season while shooting 51.9% from the field, 37.5% from 3 and 89.8% from the foul line. 

Gilgeous-Alexander began his career with the Clippers, who traded the guard to the Thunder for Paul George in 2019. SGA has career averages of 24.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.1 assists with the Clippers and Thunder.