Story & Photos
By Michael Kinney
It was the worst-kept secret in the NBA. For weeks, if not months, it was a foregone conclusion that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was going to be named MVP of the 2024-25 season.
From fans to members of the media, the question was never if Gilgeous-Alexander was going to win it. It was always when will NBA officials stop fooling around and give him the award.
That moment came on Wednesday, May 21 when the league made it official and announced the all-star guard as the MVP.
Gilgeous-Alexander earned 71 of the 100 first-place votes, while Denver’s Nikola Jokić received the remaining 29. No other player received first- or second-place votes.
“I always thought that I could be a really good player because I had seen what just putting your head down and working and controlling what you can control can do for you, and I made tremendous strides,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “But the conversation started a couple years ago, but I never thought this was going to happen. I dreamt about it as a kid, but as the days go on and you realize that you get closer to your dream, it’s hard not to freak out. It’s hard not to be a six-year-old kid again, and I think that’s what’s allowed me to achieve it.”
Gilgeous-Alexander appeared in 76 games and averaged a league-high 32.7 points on 52 percent shooting. That included 37.5 percent from three-point range, to go along with 6.4 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 1.72 steals and 1.00 blocks
Gilgeous-Alexander became just the second player in NBA history to average at least 30 points on 50 percent shooting to go along with at least 5.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.50 steals and 1.00 blocks. The other was Chicago’s Michael Jordan, who did it twice.
The MVP announcement “leaked out onto social media Wednesday afternoon. The Thunder set up a presser for later in the evening at the team’s practice facility.
When Gilgeous-Alexander took the stage, his teammates sat on stage with him wearing the new Rolex watches he purchased for them.
His family, friends, Thunder staff and assembled media members filled up the spectator rows as Gilgeous-Alexander thanked everyone in the building, his family back home in his hometown of Ontario, Canada.
It was a standard MVP type thank you speech until Gilgeous-Alexander got around to thanking his wife. At that point, the emotions bubbled up, the tears came, and he had to put his forehead down on his arm for a few seconds before he could continue.
“Thank you for everything you are for us. You were the first person to show me what love really meant,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “What sacrifice really meant, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of this journey with all of you. Thank you for everything, I wouldn’t be the man I am, I wouldn’t be the player I am, I wouldn’t be the father I am without you, so thank you, everybody.”
After sitting down and composing himself, he came back to the podium to answer questions. That included what did it mean to him to now be in the same company as fellow Canadian Steve Nash, who won two MVPs.
. “He set the foundation. This is the first Canadian basketball player I knew of,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “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’s meant to not only basketball but to the country of Canada, it’s been special.”
Nash is just one of many former greats that Gilgeous-Alexander will now be associated with. In his seventh year in the league, he posted his third-straight season averaging 30-plus points on 50 percent shooting. He joins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan as the only players to reach that milestone.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 2,484 total points, which topped the NBA this season. He recorded 20-plus points in 72 straight games this season, the second-longest streak in NBA history. He also compiled 208 stocks (steals + blocks) on the season, the third most in the NBA.
Gilgeous-Alexander joins Kevin Durant (2013-14) and Russell Westbrook (2016-17) as the third player in franchise history to claim the MVP while in a Thunder uniform. Oklahoma City becomes just the fifth team in NBA history to have three different MVP winners and the first team in NBA history to have three MVP recipients in 12 years.
“I think any conversation with, particularly those two guys, the guys that give the support, it’s hard to even wrap your head around,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “These guys have done amazing things with the game, changed the game in ways you couldn’t see coming. To even be in the same breath is, like I said, it’s hard to even put into words. It’s just, I can’t chalk it up to anything else besides just a kid dreaming and working at it and seeing where it takes you. And that’s the biggest thing. I know Kevin, and I know Russell. I know the kids they were, and they just dreamed and worked hard and got to this position, and so did I.”
Gilgeous-Alexander will be presented the MVP trophy before Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals on Thursday at the Paycom Center.
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