Back to Back: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander To Win 2nd NBA MVP Award - Page 9

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is entering the Western Conference Finals with an extra pep in his step after reportedly being named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player, according to ESPN.

It marks the Oklahoma City Thunder star’s second consecutive MVP, and the first back-to-back winner since 2020-21 when Nikola Jokic held the honor.

SGA actually beat out the Denver Nuggets star, as well as fellow finalist San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, for the regular-season trophy.

He’s also the first guard to win that distinction since Steph Curry did a decade ago at the precipice of the Golden State Warriors’ dynasty, before winning 4 championships over 10 years. 

Gilgeous-Alexander could himself be at the beginning stages of his own dynasty, as one of the youngest franchises in the NBA, with an average age of just 24.5.

After one year with the Los Angeles Clippers, he joined the Thunder in 2020 and was with the team through some tough seasons, when they only scraped together 22 and 24 wins.

But the tide changed in 2023, when they were first in the West with 57 wins but were defeated by the Dallas Mavericks in the Conference Semifinals. They did build on that momentum for 2024-25. After posting a 68-14 regular-season record, they ran through the Memphis Grizzlies, Denver Nuggets, and Minnesota Timberwolves before defeating the Indiana Pacers to win the 2025 NBA Finals.

Gilgeous Alexander was even honored with the Finals MVP, and now he’s on track to do the same with a comparable 64-18, holding the league’s best record for the second year in a row. 

His personal stats have also been impressive, averaging 31 points and keeping his team ahead of the pack while his star running buddy, Jalen Williams, was out for 33 games with a wrist injury. 

With Williams back from a more recent hamstring injury, SGA looks to lead a back-to-normal Thunder roster to the promised land again as they go up against the Spurs in the Conference Finals.

Should he get past Wemby, he’ll fight it out with the New York Knicks or the winner of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons series.

The official MVP announcement goes down tonight ahead of the Cavs-Pistons Game 7. See social media’s response to SGA’s win below.