Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wins first NBA MVP award, dethroning Nikola Jokic

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named the NBA’s most valuable player Wednesday, capping a historic regular season by unseating Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and becoming just the second Canadian to win the award.

Gilgeous-Alexander, 26, led the Thunder to a franchise-best 68 wins and a plus-12.9 point differential, the highest mark in league history. The lithe 6-foot-6 guard was the NBA’s leading scorer at 32.7 points per game, guiding the league’s fourth-best offense while also contributing to the NBA’s top defense. Gilgeous-Alexander joined Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan (1995-96) and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (2015-16) as the only players to average at least 30 points for a team that won 68 or more games.

“You try so hard throughout the season to not think about [winning MVP] and just worry about playing basketball and getting better and trying to win games,” Gilgeous-Alexander said in an interview with TNT on Wednesday. “But as a competitor and as a kid dreaming about the game, it’s always in the back of your mind. I’m very thankful to be on this side of the ballot. None of it’s possible without [my teammates]. The amount of games we won and the fashion that we won the games [in] is so impressive. That’s probably the main reason why I get the award.”

The 30-year-old Jokic, who won his third MVP award last season, finished second after averaging a triple-double - 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists - for the 50-win Nuggets. Gilgeous-Alexander received 71 first-place votes to Jokic’s 29. Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell rounded out the top five in the voting conducted by a panel of media members.

Gilgeous-Alexander’s MVP path took many twists and turns. Raised in Ontario, he transferred to a Tennessee high school in 2015 before spending a one-and-done freshman season at the University of Kentucky in 2017-18. While he was only a part-time starter for the Wildcats, Gilgeous-Alexander went 11th overall in the 2018 NBA draft to the Charlotte Hornets, who immediately traded him to the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Clippers prized Gilgeous-Alexander’s potential, but they opted to send him to the Thunder in a 2019 trade for Paul George. During Gilgeous-Alexander’s six-year tenure in Oklahoma City, the Thunder has rebuilt from a 22-50 season in 2020-21 to a juggernaut that finished 16 games ahead of the second-place Houston Rockets in this year’s Western Conference standings.Gilgeous-Alexander’s silky scoring and steady leadership personality have set the tone for the Thunder, which leads the Minnesota Timberwolves 1-0 in the Western Conference finals.

Thanks to his crafty finishing, ultrareliable midrange game and an improved three-point shot, Gilgeous-Alexander finished first this season in Win Shares, second in Player Efficiency Rating and second in Value Over Replacement Player.

While Gilgeous-Alexander joins Steve Nash (2004-05 and 2005-06) as the only Canadians to win MVP honors, foreign-born players have now won the award in seven straight seasons. Gilgeous-Alexander, who was MVP runner-up last year, is also the third Thunder player to win the award, following Kevin Durant (2013-14) and Russell Westbrook (2016-17).

“I used [finishing second] as motivation,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Last year, all it meant was that more people thought I shouldn’t have won than should have won. This year, I wanted to change the narrative and have it flipped. I think I did a good job at that.”

The Thunder is seeking its first championship since relocating to Oklahoma City from Seattle in 2008, and Gilgeous-Alexander has continued his strong play in the postseason. The three-time all-star is averaging 29.2 points, 6.6 assists and 5.8 rebounds in the playoffs, and he has guided Oklahoma City to a 9-3 record and a plus-14 point differential. The Thunder eliminated Jokic’s Nuggets, who finished 18 games behind the Thunder, in seven games in the conference semifinals.

Jokic mounted a strong run for what would have been his fourth MVP award in the past five seasons, but the Nuggets fired coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth in April during a late-season malaise.

The Serbian center ranked first in Player Efficiency Rating and became the first player in NBA history to rank in the top three leaguewide for points, rebounds and assists per game in the same season. Jokic’s candidacy was held back by Denver’s defense, which slipped from eighth last season to 21st this season.

Antetokounmpo, 30, averaged 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists - the only player in the league to average 30 points and 10 rebounds this season. The two-time MVP led Milwaukee to the NBA Cup championship in December, but the aging Bucks were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the third straight season. Antetokounmpo, who has finished in the top four of MVP voting in each of the past seven seasons, has been the subject of trade speculation following Milwaukee’s latest early exit and guard Damian Lillard’s Achilles’ injury.