Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Wins Second Consecutive NBA MVP
The Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won the 2025-26 MVP award, ESPN's Shams Charania first reported on Sunday. This is his second consecutive win, making him the 14th NBA player in history to win back-to-back MVP awards. The last player to accomplish this feat was Nuggets center Nikola Jokić in 2021 and ‘22.
Gilgeous-Alexander's average of 31.1 points per game finished second in the league during the regular season, ranking only behind Lakers' Luka Dončić, who was seen as a fair option to win the MVP award for the first time in his career. Dončić, along with Pistons guard Cade Cunningham, appealed to the NBA to not enforce its 65-game rule for regular season awards. They won their case, but in the end, Dončić will have to wait to attempt to win his first MVP award.
The Toronto native was the first guard in NBA history to average 30 points and 55% shooting in a season. He didn't score below 20 points in all 68 games he played in this season, joining only Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor in achieving this milestone. He scored 788 total points this season, more than 100 points more than the next player, Spurs center Victor Wembanyama's 682.
He could cap off his MVP season again with another NBA title as Oklahoma City will face San Antonio in the Western Conference Finals starting on Monday night.
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This story was originally published May 17, 2026 at 7:08 AM.