Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander collects first NBA MVP award

(Reuters) - Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the NBA Most Valuable Player, the league announced on Wednesday night.

Gilgeous-Alexander led the league in scoring (32.7 points per game) for the first time and joined Michael Jordan as the only players in NBA history to average at least 30 points per game on 50 percent shooting with per-game averages of at least five rebounds, five assists, 1.5 steals and one block in a season. Jordan did it twice, and each time was named NBA MVP (1988, 1991).

He received 71 first-place votes and 913 total points in balloting of 100 voters on a global media panel for his first Michael Jordan Trophy. Denver's Nikola Jokic, who was league MVP last season for the third time in his career, finished second with 787 points and had the other 29 first-place votes cast. Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo was third (470 total), Boston's Jayson Tatum was fourth (311) and Cleveland's Donovan Mitchell was fifth (74) of 12 players receiving votes.

Gilgeous-Alexander is the first Thunder MVP winner since Russell Westbrook in 2017. Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant won the award in 2014.

Gilgeous-Alexander shot 51.9 percent, averaged 6.4 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.0 blocks in 2024-25. He was named All-NBA First Team for the second consecutive season, which makes "SGA" eligible for a four-year, $294 million extension in the offseason.

The runner-up in MVP balloting to Jokic after the 2023-24 season, Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder to the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and dispatched the reigning MVP's Denver squad in a seven-game series to advance to the Western Conference finals.

Gilgeous-Alexander, 26, averaged over 30 points per game for the third consecutive season.

Oklahoma City holds a 1-0 lead in the series over the Minnesota Timberwolves after winning the opener 114-88 on Tuesday night.