Shai Gilgeous-Alexander named MVP: Thunder star is 14th player to win back-to-back MVPs

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the 2025-26 NBA Most Valuable Player, ESPN reported Sunday. After a highly controversial race with rotating candidates throughout the season, the defending winner retained his crown after a historically effective offensive season.

Although Gilgeous-Alexander’s raw scoring technically dropped from 32.7 to 31.1 points per game, he was able to score those points much more efficiently. Gilgeous-Alexander closed the season shooting 55.3% from the floor, 38.6% from 3 and 87.9% on free throws. The only other player to achieve these shooting percentages on over 250 total shots? That would be Kevin Durant, who did it in 47 games during the 2022-23 season. Gilgeous-Alexander did it in ’68 and still managed to finish his season with fewer total turnovers and almost twice as many assists.

Gilgeous-Alexander scored the second-most points per game in the NBA at 31.1, behind Luka Dončić, but he did so while averaging the 42nd-most touches per game, 66.6. This meant that Gilgeous-Alexander almost scored a goal for every two times he touched the ball. He led the team with the most wins in the regular season, 64, and he did it with his only teammate who had appeared in an All-Star Game before this season, Jalen Williams, playing in 33 games less. Only two Thunder players, Cason Wallace and Isaiah Joe, have managed to play 70 games this season, and several key players like Ajay Mitchell, Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein have missed 25 games or more.

Gilgeous-Alexander was almost the favorite for the award, but throughout the season a number of different players took home his trophy. It all started with three-time winner Nikola Jokić, who opened the season with two historic offensive months. A knee injury hampered his candidacy, so from there, voters turned to the leaders of the Eastern Conference’s two surprising contenders: Cade Cunningham in Detroit and Jaylen Brown in Boston.

Neither ended up playing a significant role in the race, but historic second halves from Dončić and Victor Wembanyama kept things interesting in March. Dončić eventually fell out of the hunt after being injured in a blowout loss to the Gilgeous-Alexander Thunder. Wembanyama’s lack of minutes doomed his bid, and despite a late surge, Jokić simply couldn’t make up for the time he missed or his deficiencies as a defender.

Gilgeous-Alexander is now in historic company. He is now the 16th player in NBA history to win multiple MVP awards, joining the six two-time winners (Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, Tim Duncan, Karl Malone, Steve Nash and Bob Pettit), the four three-time winners (Jokić, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Moses Malone), the two four-time winners (Wilt Chamberlain and LeBron James), the two five-time winners (Michael Jordan and Bill Russell). and the only six-time winner (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). Among these multiple winners, Gilgeous-Alexander is the 14th player to win the award consecutively, as are all other multiple winners except Malone and Pettit.

Gilgeous-Alexander’s victory now marks the eighth consecutive victory for players born outside the United States. Antetokounmpo won two, followed by two for Jokić, one for Joel Embiid, another for Jokić and then Gilgeous-Alexander’s first trophy. Gilgeous-Alexander joins Nash as Canada’s second double winner.

This is the 27-year-old Gilgeous-Alexander’s season, which historically suggests he will be back in the mix next season. All winners since Derrick Rose in 2011 have been between the ages of 24 and 28, meaning Gilgeous-Alexander is still in the age bracket that suggests he could possibly make it three rounds. However, history has been extremely harsh on players seeking three consecutive MVP trophies. Russell, Chamberlain and Bird are the only players to win this award three times in a row. That means Jordan and James, widely considered the two greatest players in the history of the sport, both failed to make it. The last player to attempt a third straight MVP was Jokić in 2023. It was one of the most controversial races in recent memory, with Embiid winning the crown as many critics pointed to Jokić’s lack of a championship ring as a reason to turn him down. Ironically, Jokić would win his only NBA championship months later.

Gilgeous-Alexander won his first title a year ago, defeating Jokić along the way. If he picks up his second in June, he has a chance to join one of the most exclusive clubs in basketball history. Only two players have won the regular season and Finals MVP awards in consecutive seasons, and they’re the two players we’d most want to associate ourselves with: Michael Jordan in 1991 and 1992, and LeBron James in 2012 and 2013. That’s the kind of historic company that Gilgeous-Alexander now has a chance to keep. We’re watching one of the greatest guards in NBA history reach the absolute peak of his powers, and this trophy is just the final line in an already remarkable all-time legacy.