Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wins 2nd MVP

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won the 2025-26 NBA Most Valuable Player award on Sunday, the NBA and the Oklahoma City Thunder said, making him a repeat winner one year after claiming the honor for the first time. The 27-year-old guard received the Michael Jordan Trophy after leading Oklahoma City to a 64-18 record, the best mark in the league. The award gives Gilgeous-Alexander a second major individual honor this season after he was also named the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year. Monday’s Game 1 of the Western Conference finals against the San Antonio Spurs will bring another public presentation, with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expected to be in Oklahoma City. ### How rare is a second straight MVP for Gilgeous-Alexander? The NBA said Gilgeous-Alexander became the 14th player in league history to win the MVP award in consecutive seasons. NBA.com also said he is only the 16th player to win multiple MVP awards since the honor was introduced in the 1955-56 season. May 21, 2025, was the date of Gilgeous-Alexander’s first MVP announcement. (nba.com) Sunday’s result came four days short of a full year later, according to NBA.com’s season-by-season awards coverage. ### What numbers defined his regular season? Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 31.1 points, 6.6 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.40 steals in 68 games while shooting 55.3% from the field and 38.6% from three-point range, the Thunder said in the team’s release citing the NBA announcement. (nba.com) The Thunder said he became the first player in league history to average at least 30 points on 55% shooting and 38% from three in a season, and the first guard to top 30 points on 55% shooting. (nba.com) A 140-game streak of scoring at least 20 points was another centerpiece of the case. NBA.com said he broke Wilt Chamberlain’s previous mark of 126 straight 20-point games on March 12 against Boston and extended the streak through the end of the regular season. The NBA also credited Gilgeous-Alexander with 175 total clutch points, the most in the league, on the way to winning Clutch Player of the Year. (nba.com) That award was decided by a global media panel of 100 voters, the league said in April. ### Who were the other finalists? Nikola Jokić of the Denver Nuggets and Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs were the other two finalists, according to the NBA’s 2025-26 awards page. (nba.com) The league’s awards tracker listed Gilgeous-Alexander as the winner and named those two players alongside him as finalists. The Associated Press reported that international players finished 1-2-3 in MVP voting for the fifth straight season. (pr.nba.com) The AP also said Gilgeous-Alexander’s win marked the eighth consecutive year that the NBA MVP was born outside the United States. ### How much did Oklahoma City’s season matter? Oklahoma City finished 64-18 and posted the NBA’s best record for a second straight season, the Thunder said. (nba.com) The team release said the 64 wins were the second-most in franchise history and gave the club its second consecutive 60-win season. Mark Daigneault, Oklahoma City’s coach, told the AP that Gilgeous-Alexander’s growth showed up in more than box-score production. “Who he is has never changed,” Daigneault said, adding that the guard had refined “the edges on his game and on his leadership and on his perspective.” (cdn-uat.nba.com) JJ Redick, the Los Angeles Lakers coach, told the AP that Gilgeous-Alexander’s one-on-one scoring remained especially difficult to defend. “He’s just really hard to stop, for any defender,” Redick said. (nba.com) ### What happens next in the playoffs? Monday, May 18, is the next date on Oklahoma City’s schedule. The Thunder host the Spurs in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals at 8:30 p.m. (cdn-uat.nba.com) ET at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, according to the NBA schedule page. Adam Silver is expected to present Gilgeous-Alexander with the trophy at that game, the AP reported. The same report said it would be the third trophy presentation involving Gilgeous-Alexander in 12 months, after last season’s MVP and NBA Finals MVP honors. (cdn-uat.nba.com) (nba.com)