Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Reportedly Wins 2025-26 NBA MVP Award, How Did Thunder Star Make History?
For the second straight year, Oklahoma City Thunder star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has reportedly been named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Sunday that Gilgeous-Alexander beat out fellow finalists San Antonio Spurs star center Victor Wembanyama and Denver Nuggets star center Nikola Jokić the 2025-26 MVP award, making him the first back-to-back MVP since Jokić in 2021 and 2022.
After leading the Thunder to the 2025 NBA championship, Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t take his foot off the gas one bit. He once again led Oklahoma City to the league’s best record at 64-18, and he did so while being without star forward Jalen Williams for most of the year, as he was limited to 33 games while he nursed a wrist injury.
Gilgeous-Alexander somehow found a way to maintain his incredible scoring pace while being as efficient as ever. He averaged 31.1 points while shooting a career-high 55.3 percent from the field, his fourth straight year averaging over 30 points. He topped the 40-point mark eight times, including a season-high 55 points early in the year in a double-overtime win over the Indiana Pacers.
Gilgeous-Alexander had to stave off some stiff competition for his second straight MVP award.
Wembanyama, who finished second in the voting, led the Spurs to a 62-20 record on his way to unanimously earning his first career NBA Defensive Player of the Year award. The 22-year-old averaged 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 3.1 blocks and made it no secret that he was chasing the MVP award this year, but voters gave Gilgeous-Alexander the edge.
Jokic, a three-time NBA MVP, led the Nuggets to a 54-28 finish and averaged a triple-double for the second consecutive season with 27.7 points, 12.9 rebounds and 10.7 assists. He became the first player ever to lead the NBA in both rebounds and assists.
In the end, Gilgeous-Alexander did enough to be crowned the league MVP for the second straight year. The 27-year-old will try to cap off his year with another NBA championship as he leads the Thunder through the playoffs.
