The case for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was simple. He's the best player on an Oklahoma City Thunder team that had the best record this season and set a league mark for margin of victory. If that wasn't enough, he also won the scoring title.
That's an MVP year.
Gilgeous-Alexander was announced Wednesday as the NBA's Most Valuable Player, his first time winning the award. It's now seven straight years that a player born outside the U.S. won MVP, extending the longest such streak in league history.
Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 32.7 points, 6.4 assists and five rebounds per game this season, leading the Thunder to a 68-14 record. The Thunder outscored teams by 12.9 points per game, the biggest margin in league history.
He becomes the second 春色直播 to win MVP; Steve Nash won it twice.
鈥淗is value is his confidence,鈥 Oklahoma City鈥檚 Kenrich Williams said of Gilgeous-Alexander, his Thunder teammate for the last five seasons. 鈥淗is confidence that he has in himself and the confidence that he instills in every one of his teammates, including the coaches.鈥
Denver's Nikola Jokic 鈥 a winner of three of the last four MVP awards 鈥 was second, despite a season for the ages. He averaged 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists per game, the first center to average a triple-double and the first player since all those stats were tracked to finish in the NBA鈥檚 top three in all three of those categories.
It was the sixth instance of a player finishing a season averaging a triple-double 鈥 at least 10 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds per game. Russell Westbrook did it four times and Oscar Robertson once, but only one of those triple-double seasons led to an MVP win.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a special player,鈥 Jokic said of Gilgeous-Alexander earlier this week when in the Western Conference semifinals. 鈥淗is shot selection, his shot capability ... he鈥檚 always there. He鈥檚 a special player.鈥
Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo, who averaged 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game, was third. He started this run of international players winning MVP; Antetokounmpo, of Greek and Nigerian descent, won in 2019 and 2020.
Jokic, a Serbian, won in 2021, 2022 and 2024. And Philadelphia's Joel Embiid, who was born in Cameroon but since became a U.S. citizen, won the award in 2023.
Now, it's Gilgeous-Alexander 鈥 a son of Ontario, where hockey reigns 鈥 carrying the MVP flag.
The MVP award, like most other NBA honors, was voted on by a global panel of 100 writers and broadcasters who cover the league and cast ballots shortly before the start of the playoffs.
The other awards that were part of that voting process and have already had their results unveiled: Cleveland's Kenny Atkinson winning , Atlanta鈥檚 Dyson Daniels winning , San Antonio鈥檚 Stephon Castle winning , Cleveland鈥檚 Evan Mobley winning , New York鈥檚 Jalen Brunson winning and Boston鈥檚 Payton Pritchard winning
Other awards announced by the league since the end of the regular season: Golden State鈥檚 Stephen Curry won the , Warriors teammate Draymond Green won the , Oklahoma City's Sam Presti won and Boston鈥檚 Jrue Holiday won the for the second time in his career as well as the league鈥檚 award.
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