Oklahoma City Thunder’s Star Guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Named NBA MVP 2024-25

The NBA announced the Oklahoma City Thunder’s star point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as the 2024-25 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player. Gilgeous-Alexander earned his career’s first Michael Jordan Trophy as he beat fellow finalists including Denver Nuggets’ center Nikola Jokic and Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo. Last year, the 26-year-old finished behind Jokic as the Serbian won his third MVP Award. 

SGA, as he is better known as, finished the 2024-25 regular season with an average of 32.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 6.4 assists, and 1.7 steals per contest. He led the league in scoring, while shooting 51.9% from the field and 89.8% from the free throw line. With him at the helm, the OKC Thunder recorded a historical season, with a league-best record of 68-14, as well as the best defensive rating of 100.7, net rating of 14.6 and fourth-best offensive rating of 115.3. 

Gilgeous-Alexander is the second Canadian to earn the honor, along with Steve Nash, who won back-to-back awards in 2004-05 and 2005-06. The three-time NBA All-Star, who won 71 first-place votes and 913 total votes, is also the third player to win the honor with the Thunder. He joined the likes of Kevin Durant (2013-14) and Russell Westbrook (2016-17) to be adjudged the MVP with the franchise. 

As of now, SGA is averaging 29.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game in the NBA Playoffs 2025, as Oklahoma City is leading the Minnesota Timberwolves 1-0 in the Western Conference Finals. 

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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the Seventh Straight International Player to Win NBA MVP

As the Toronto-born was named the MVP for the 2024-25 season, he joined the list of international players to win the honor for seven straight seasons. Giannis Antetokounmpo, a Greek International, was adjudged the MVP in 2018-19 and 2019-20. Following him, Nikola Jokic, a Serbian international, took the trophy home in back-to-back seasons in 2020-21 and 2021-22. 

Joel Embiid, from Cameroon was the winner in 2022-23, as the Joker won his third award in four years in 2023-24. The last time an American international won the award was in 2017-18, when (then) Houston Rockets’ shooting guard James Harden won the title. 

Coming back to 2024-25, in his MVP season, apart from leading the NBA in scoring, SGA achieved a remarkable feat of scoring 20+ points in 72 straight games. He also recorded the highest 20+ point games with 75 and 30-point games with 49. In addition, the Canadian also had the highest 40-point games with 13 such contests and topped the charts for most 50-point games with four contests.

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