Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has officially cemented himself among some of the greatest players the NBA has ever seen.
The Oklahoma City Thunder superstar was named the league’s Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive season on Sunday after leading Oklahoma City to another dominant regular season and the NBA’s best overall record.
Gilgeous-Alexander received 83 of the 100 first-place votes, comfortably finishing ahead of Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama in the final voting.
At just 27 years old, he became only the seventh player over the past 40 years to win multiple MVP awards before turning 28, joining names like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Michael Jordan and Tim Duncan.
“It’s special,” Gilgeous-Alexander said during his MVP press conference. “All those guys have shaped the game of basketball. All those guys have changed the game and how it’s played and how it was approached before that. To be in just that circle, to be in that conversation, it’s something that I don’t take lightly. I’m super grateful for it.”
The Thunder guard averaged 31.1 points, 6.6 assists and shot a career-best 55.3 percent from the field while leading Oklahoma City to a 64-18 record.
He also added the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year award to his résumé after finishing with a league-leading 175 clutch points this season.
Despite the individual success, SGA continued to push attention toward the people around him, crediting the Thunder organization and his teammates for helping elevate his game.
“Some of it is just luck,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “As an NBA player, you have no control over other grown men in this business and I’m just lucky enough to be surrounded by great human beings, from the front office, coaching staff, to the guys that I play on the court with every night. We all want to see the next man win and do whatever it takes ultimately to win. We have that common goal. And yeah, I can’t take credit for that.
“It’s more than me, it’s bigger than me.”
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