Who is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, man who beat Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo to NBA MVP title
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was voted as the NBA regular-season MVP on Wednesday night, beating former MVP-winning superstars like Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Gilgeous-Alexander winning the MVP title means that for the seven consecutive year, a player born outside the US — extending the longest such streak in league history — has now been awarded the title of the best player in the league in regular season.
The NBA race for the MVP title came down to two players: Gilgeous-Alexander earned 71 first-place votes and 29 second-place votes while Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic got the other 29 first-place votes and the other 71 second-place votes. Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo was third, getting 88 of the 100 possible third-place votes. Gilgeous-Alexander got 913 points overall from a panel of 100 voters — The award is voted on by media members — while Jokic had 787 points. Boston's Jayson Tatum was fourth behind Antetokounmpo, and Cleveland's Donovan Mitchell finished fifth.
A global media panel of 100 voters selected the winner of the 2024-25 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award.
The complete voting results ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/j4nqOAWVT2
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 21, 2025
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The ceremony was held at the ION facility where Thunder practice. He was surrounded by all of his teammates and his family. He will receive the trophy on the court before Game 2 of the Western Conference finals against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday. But before that ceremony in front of the world, he gave a tearful MVP award speech on Wednesday night where he thanked his wife, Hailey Summers, for her role in his career.
'Thank you so much,' he said as he looked at Summers from the podium. 'Thank you for everything you are — for me, for our son, Ares. You were the first person to show me what love really meant … what sacrifice really meant. And I can't wait to spend the rest of this journey called life with you. Thank you very much. I wouldn't be the man I am, I wouldn't be the player I am, I wouldn't be the father I am, without you. Thank you.'
So who is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?
This season, Gilgeous-Alexander has averaged 32.7 points (where he was the league leader), 6.4 assists and five rebounds per game. Thanks to him leading from the front, the Thunder accrued a 68-14 record in regular season. He also ended the regular season as the league leader in averages for free-throw attempts (7.9) and shot attempts (21.8). As noted by The Associated Press, thanks to him, Thunder outscored teams by 12.9 points per game this season, the biggest margin in league history. Oklahoma City had a franchise-record 68 victories and ended as the top seed in the Western Conference for the second consecutive season.
Gilgeous-Alexander becomes the second Canadian to win MVP after Steve Nash, who claimed the honour twice.
Gilgeous-Alexander was the No 11 pick in the 2018 NBA draft. He was picked up by the Los Angeles Clippers. In those early days, the 20-year-old used to travel to training games by Uber or with help from teammates who could drive because he just had a learner's permit.
After that rookie season, he was traded — much to his own surprise — to Oklahoma City Thunder. His early seasons at the OKC franchise saw the team being in a rebuilding phase: they won just 46 games from 2020 to 2022.
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