Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Oklahoma City Thunder superstar guard who led his team to the NBA’s best record, is expected to be named the league’s most valuable player during Wednesday’s “NBA on TNT Pregame Show,”
Gilgeous-Alexander, 26, is the third Thunder player to win the MVP. Kevin Durant took home the honors in 2014 and Russell Westbrook won it in 2017.
It’s the seventh consecutive season a foreign-born player has won the award, as Gilgeous-Alexander is a native of Canada.
Led by Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder won 68 regular-season games, including 29-1 against the Eastern Conference, winning games by an average of 12.9 points per game and outscoring their opponents by 1,055 points.
Gilgeous-Alexander also won his first scoring title, averaging 32.1 points per game, including a streak where he scored 20 or more points in 72 consecutive games. He also averaged five rebounds and a career-high 6.4 assists, and his value was not only on the offensive end but defensively as well, as Oklahoma City was first in defensive rating and third in offensive rating.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished ahead of Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, who won the award last season. Jokic averaging 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 10.2 assists per game, finishing the top three in each category, while leading the league in performance efficiency rating. Jokic recorded an NBA-high 34 triple-doubles this season and is the third player in NBA history to average a triple-double for a season, joining Oscar Robertson and Westbrook.
A two-time first-team All-NBA performer, Gilgeous-Alexander is eligible to sign a four-year, $293 million supermax extension this summer. He made $35.8 million this year, and is scheduled to take home $38.3 million and $40.8 million in the final two years of his current contract, which he signed in 2021.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder guard, wins NBA MVP