Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won his second consecutive Kia MVP award on Sunday, becoming the 36th player in NBA history to receive the honor and the 14th to do it in back-to-back seasons.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s season read like a scoring clinic: he played 68 games, scored 20 or more points in every regular-season game he played, posted 43 games of 30-plus points, eight 40-point games and one 50-point outing, finishing second in the league at 31.1 points per game. He also led the NBA with 175 total clutch points and won Kia Clutch Player of the Year.
The numbers behind the award underline how singular the run was. He became only the 16th player to win multiple MVPs since the honor began in the 1955-56 season, joined Michael Jordan as the only guards to average at least 30 points on 50 percent shooting or better in four consecutive seasons, and became the only guard in NBA history to average more than 30 points while shooting better than 55 percent from the field. He also surpassed 2,000 total points for the fourth straight season and led the league in total plus/minus with 788.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s scoring came with efficiency and movement value: he led the league in perimeter off-ball gravity at 20.1, led the league in points on drives at 14.0 while shooting 59.2 percent on those plays, and averaged 12.4 points in the paint per game. Over his last two MVP seasons he produced 92 games with 30-plus points, 21 with 40-plus and five with 50-plus, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in that rare statistical company.
He thanked teammates plainly at his news conference: "I just want to say thank you guys for everything. I wouldn't be the player I am or person I am... without you guys." He followed that with a blend of warmth and levity when explaining the gifts he handed out after last year’s MVP — and again after this one.
Gilgeous-Alexander gave Audemars Piguet watches, Burberry trench coats, golf clubs, YSL cologne, custom Levi's Canadian tuxedo sets, iPhone 17s with free AT&T service, free Spotify Premium memberships and custom Don Julio 1942 bottles to teammates. Thunder players showed up to his MVP news conference wearing the Burberry trench coats. "My teammates are very fashionable guys and I figured I'd help them out a little bit with the Burberry trench coats," he said. "They look great."
The gifts carried a human, messy detail: Gilgeous-Alexander joked about sizing. "I'm glad they all fit, except for [Chet Holmgren's]." He kept the tone light while promising to fix it: "Chet, we gotta extend Chet's, but we'll figure his out." He apologized with a grin: "My bad Chet, I apologize. You're going to get two, don't worry." And then, simply: "Yeah, have fun. I love you guys."
The applause and the trench coats will follow Gilgeous-Alexander into a new set of expectations. The Thunder open their Western Conference finals series against the San Antonio Spurs Monday night, and the league-wide proof of his dominance — back-to-back MVPs, unprecedented efficiency and relentless scoring consistency — converts into pressure to win deep playoff games.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s second straight Kia MVP cements him in a very small historical group and hands Oklahoma City a clear focal point heading into the postseason. For now, he let the moment be about teammates as much as trophies. "I just want to say thank you guys for everything," he said, and then, when the cameras clicked off, he sent them out the door wearing Burberry and a reminder that the season’s real test arrives Monday night.
