Sources: Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander repeats as NBA MVP
OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander You have joined the unique membership of NBA legends who’ve gained back-to-back MVP awards, sources informed ESPN’s Shams Charania on Sunday.
The official announcement will likely be made by the NBA later Sunday at 7:30 pm ET on Prime Video.
Gilgeous-Alexander, the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder‘s famous person, grew to become solely the fifth lively participant to be named the MVP in consecutive seasons. The others are the Denver Nuggets‘ Nikola Jokic, Milwaukee Bucks‘ Giannis Antetokounmpo, Golden State Warriors‘ Stephen Curry and LeBron Jameswho achieved the feat twice, as soon as with the Cleveland Cavaliers and once more with the Miami Heat.
Every retired participant to win consecutive MVPs has been inducted into the Hall of Fame. That record consists of Steve Nash, Tim Duncan, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Moses Malone, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell.
The different finalists this season have been Jokic and the San Antonio Spurs‘ Victor Wembanyamawho Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder will face within the Western Conference finals that start with Monday’s Game 1 in Oklahoma City.
Gilgeous-Alexander, 27, ranked second within the league in scoring with 31.1 factors per sport whereas capturing a career-best 55.3% from the ground. He additionally averaged a career-high 6.6 assists per sport for the 64-18 Thunder, who had the NBA’s finest file for the second consecutive season.
Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning Finals MVP, additionally gained the league’s Clutch Player of the Year award this season. He led the league with 175 factors within the clutch, as outlined by video games inside 5 factors within the remaining 5 minutes of regulation or additional time. He additionally led the league with 16 go-ahead clutch area objectives and in clutch plus-minus (plus-93).
This is the fourth straight season that Gilgeous-Alexander completed within the prime 5 in MVP voting. He completed fifth in 2022-23 and second in 2023-24 earlier than profitable the final two seasons.
In that span, Gilgeous-Alexander grew to become the primary participant since Jordan to common not less than 30 factors per sport in 4 consecutive seasons.
