Adding to his NBA mythos, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added another prestigious trophy to his stacked resume. He was officially named the 2025-26 MVP winner on Sunday. The 27-year-old continues to pencil an all-time legacy in basketball history books.
This shouldn't be a shocker. Reading the tea leaves, Gilgeous-Alexander was at the top of the leaderboard for the entire 2025-26 regular season. There were some moments of suspense, but he eventually ran away with the award in the latter half of the year. The other two finalists were Victor Wembanyama and Nikola Jokic.
Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 31.1 points on 55.3% shooting, 6.6 assists and 4.3 rebounds in 68 games this season. TheOklahoma City Thunderhad a league-best 64-18 record. They walked their way to the Western Conference Finals with a solid chance to go back-to-back.
With back-to-back MVP awards, Gilgeous-Alexander joins a very exclusive club filled with current and future Hall-of-Famers. The list includes LeBron James, Jokic, Stephen Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Tim Duncan, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Moses Malone and Steve Nash. Those dozen names are NBA pantheons.
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It's been quite a couple of years for Gilgeous-Alexander. He had an unconventional route to NBA superstardom. But what he might lack in longevity — for now, at least — he makes up for in peak. He's won two straight MVP awards with one championship ring. If he wins another Larry O'Brien trophy, he continues to strengthen his case to be part of the long lineage of all-time guards who define an era.
Over the last four seasons, Gilgeous-Alexander has been a superb-efficient 30-point scoring machine. The only other guy in the same breath as him is Jordan. He broke Chamberlain's legendary record for the longest consecutive 20-point streak. He also captured the NBA's 2025-26 Clutch Player of the Year award.
The Thunder have been an NBA powerhouse over the last three seasons. That's coincided with Gilgeous-Alexander's skyrocket ascension. We're seeing an all-time great's prime play out in real life. Just unreal stuff that adds to OKC's stupidly-rich basketball history despite not even being two decades old.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire:Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wins 2025-26 MVP award
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