Shai Gilgeous-Alexander quickly made a name for himself in the NBA after being drafted 11th overall by the Los Angeles Clippers, earning a starting position within just 10 games. However, it took him longer to get his driver’s license, relying on teammates and Uber while navigating Los Angeles during his rookie season. After an unexpected trade to the Oklahoma City Thunder, he found himself in a rebuilding team that struggled significantly between 2020 and 2022. Fast forward to the current season, Gilgeous-Alexander emerged as a top player, earning the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award with remarkable averages of 32.7 points, 7.9 free-throw attempts, and 21.8 shot attempts per game. He led the Thunder to a franchise-record 68 wins and the top seed in the Western Conference for the second consecutive year.
He received 71 first-place votes from a panel of 100 voters, totaling 913 points. Denver’s Nikola Jokic finished second with 787 points after a phenomenal season where he became only the third player in NBA history to average a triple-double. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, and Donovan Mitchell rounded out the top five. Gilgeous-Alexander joins Steve Nash as the only Canadian MVPs, highlighting a trend where international players have dominated the award in recent years. Following the Thunder’s success, they are now in the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2016, aiming for their first NBA Finals appearance since 2012. As Jokic noted, Gilgeous-Alexander’s skills, from shot-making to defensive abilities, mark him as a standout talent in the league.
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