Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: a season for the history books

Despite not being the favourites to win the NBA championship, Oklahoma City Thunder (OKC), led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, won their first championship since moving from Seattle to Oklahoma in the early hours of Monday morning, in a seventh game that will remain etched in the memories of all the fans who attended the Paycom Center. 

The 26-year-old Canadian player has had an unforgettable postseason thanks to his impressive performance in Game 7 against the Indiana Pacers, which reinforces his legacy and secures Oklahoma's place in NBA history. ‘It doesn't feel real. It's been so many hours, so many moments, so many emotions, so many nights without being able to imagine this, so many nights imagining it,’ he told the media after the game. ‘It's incredible to be here, but this group has deserved it. We've worked for this. We've earned it,’ added the Canadian point guard. 

However, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's (SGA) road to winning the two most important individual trophies of the year has been very tough, partly due to the great difficulty of competing against the most complete player and three-time winner of the trophy, Nikola Jokic, and the grit and determination of the Indiana Pacers, led by Tyrese Haliburton, who, despite not even being among the top ten contenders to win the championship when it began, fought until the last second. 

Since the competition kicked off, SGA's performances have been the norm. With 49 games with 30 points or more, a feat only matched by Kobe Bryant and James Harden in the last 12 years, and with a 68-14 win-loss record, the point guard became the league's leading scorer, surpassing the 3,000 points, a milestone that, according to the voting journalists, proved to be the key to winning the individual trophy that everyone fights for: the regular season MVP, reaching the Finals with the youngest team in the last 30 years. 

In the crucial Game 7, SGA had 29 points, 12 assists and 5 rebounds, leading the Thunder to a 103-91 victory and closing out the series with averages of 30.3 points, 5.6 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game. He also surpassed the 30-point mark in five of the seven games, including a standout 38-point performance in the first game, making him the undisputed candidate for the Bill Russell MVP award for the Finals. Other highlights included 688 points scored in the playoffs, surpassing historic performances such as Kevin Durant's in 2018 and Giannis Antetokounmpo's in 2021. It was a performance worthy of a place in the NBA Hall of Fame. 

His extremely high level of play in the playoffs has placed SGA in a very select club. Gilgeous-Alexander is only the eleventh player in NBA history to win the regular season MVP and Finals MVP in the same year, joining the select club of players to win the regular season MVP and Finals MVP in the same season: Michael Jordan (four times), LeBron James (twice), Larry Bird (twice), Tim Duncan, Shaquille O'Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, Magic Johnson, Moses Malone, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Willis Reed. 

But even more remarkable, he became only the fourth player in history to be MVP, Finals MVP and the top scorer, all while leading his team to a championship in the same season, alongside figures such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal. Add to that the fact that he scored more than 3,000 points in the regular season, and the list is reduced to just two: Jordan, who achieved it four times, and Jabbar, who did so while still playing for the Milwaukee Bucks. 

With exceptional behaviour on and off the court, Gilgeous-Alexander's impact is worth much more than just individual awards. His leadership and ability to shine in clutch moments led the Thunder to their first NBA title since the franchise moved to Oklahoma City in 2008. 

Following in the footsteps of the movement that began a decade ago in Philadelphia, ‘Trust the Process,’ OKC has gone from a season with only 22 wins a couple of years ago to being one of the most dominant teams in the NBA, just four wins away from Jordan's legendary 1996 Chicago Bulls and five away from the 2016 Golden State Warriors. 

In addition, SGA made history by becoming the first Canadian player to receive the NBA Finals MVP award, an achievement that resonates with fans across the country and promises a bright future for Canadian basketball, which had five players on the rosters of both teams, the second-most behind the United States.