Canada's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander caps historic season with NBA title, Finals MVP honours
Article content
It is amazing company. With due respect to those legends, Gilgeous-Alexander doesn't care. The Thunder are NBA champions. That's more than enough for him.
Article content
'Focusing on just being the best version of myself for this basketball team, for whatever it takes, for however many games it is, however many possessions is needed, however many moments,' Gilgeous-Alexander said.
Article content
'Ultimately, I'm just trying to stay in the moment. I think that's what's gotten me here. That's what has helped me achieve the MVP award, achieve all the things I've achieved. It's helped this team win basketball games.'
Article content
Article content
This was not a sneak attack up the ladder of superstardom. Gilgeous-Alexander has been climbing those rungs for years.
Article content
He's one of only two players — Giannis Antetokounmpo is the other — to average at least 30 points per game in each of the last three seasons. He led Canada to a bronze medal (over the United States, no less) at the World Cup in 2023, been an All-Star and first-team All-NBA pick for three years running, played in his first Olympics last year, and just finished a season where he posted career bests in points and assists per game.
Article content
Article content
He scored 3,172 points this season, including playoffs, the ninth-most by any player in NBA history.
Article content
Oh, and he's a champion now.
Article content
'He's getting better every year in just about everything,' Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. 'I think he's really improved as a playmaker. … And then he's an unbelievable scorer, and incredibly efficient. We lean into that. He leans into that.
Article content
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 2024-25 season
- NBA Champion
- Finals MVP
- MVP
- WCF MVP
- 1st Seed (Franchise Record)
- All NBA 1st Team
- Scoring Title
- All Star Starter
- Most 50, 40, 30 pt games
- 1st in +/-
- 2nd in steals
one of the greatest seasons of all time ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/YFuGAChXJa
— ⛈️ (@GilgeousSZN) June 23, 2025
Article content
Opponents have no choice but to marvel at how Gilgeous-Alexander does what he does. He's not a high-flying artist like Jordan, not an unstoppable force of power like LeBron James, not a 3-point dazzler like Stephen Curry. He looks like he's playing at his own pace much of time, largely because defences have few ways to slow him down or speed him up.
Article content
'Shai, he's so good,' Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton — who suffered a serious lower leg injury that knocked him out of Game 7 in the first quarter — said during the series. 'He's so slippery in between those gaps. He splits screens, like, I don't know how he's doing that. … He's a really tough cover.'
Article content
Gilgeous-Alexander is the face of basketball in Oklahoma City, is rapidly becoming one of the faces of the NBA — his jersey is now one of the highest-selling — and it's no secret that he is the icon for fans in Canada now. It used to be Steve Nash, the first Canadian to win NBA MVP.
Article content
Now, Nash has help.
Article content
'You can only imagine and get excited about all the kids around the world, but in particular Canadians that will be affected so positively, whether they're basketball players or not, by the way he carries himself, by the way he executes and commits to his profession,' Nash said. 'It's remarkable and he's an amazing example for everybody out there, not just kids.'
Article content
SHAI & FAM WITH THE TROPHIES 🥹
What it's all about. pic.twitter.com/og1SjEFqTa
— NBA (@NBA) June 23, 2025
Article content
Article content
There's no question Nash had some impact on Gilgeous-Alexander's rise in the game. Another great who did: Kobe Bryant.
Article content
There are parallels: similar body types, even similar ways they answer questions. Bryant famously said 'job's not finished' when asked about his Lakers getting within two wins of a title one year; Gilgeous-Alexander had a similar moment after the Thunder got to three wins in this series, saying 'we haven't done anything.'
Article content
They have now.
Article content
'He is probably my favourite player of all time,' Gilgeous-Alexander said of Bryant. 'Never got the chance to meet him. With me, with kids all across the world, his influence has gone through the roof. He'll be remembered forever because of the competitor and the basketball player he was. Yeah, I'm hopefully somewhere close to that as a basketball player one day.'
Article content
He's not there yet.
Article content
4th player to win #KiaMVP, the scoring title and the Finals MVP in the same season! pic.twitter.com/JP93jzjipu
— NBA (@NBA) June 23, 2025
Article content
Article content
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
13 minutes ago
- CTV News
Free pizzas being given away Monday to celebrate Oilers season
Pizza 73 is giving away heart-shaped pizzas on Monday, June 23, 2025, to celebrate the Edmonton Oilers' season. (Credit: Pizza 73) Local restaurant Pizza 73 is giving away free heart-shaped pizzas on Monday to celebrate the Edmonton Oilers season. If you're still feeling sad about the Oilers' Stanley Cup Final loss, you can get a cheese or pepperoni pizza from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. here: 10424 122 street, T5N 1M3, Edmonton 10839-101 St, T5H 2S7, Edmonton 11435 Kingsway Ave, T5G 3E8, Edmonton 5003-118 Ave, T5W 1B8, Edmonton 9561 - 118 Ave NW, T5G 0P9, Edmonton #123 -16 Westway road, T5T 4R4, Spruce Grove 5433 Gateway Blvd., T6H 2H3, Edmonton The offer is walk-in only. 'As an Alberta brand and long-standing partner of the Edmonton Oilers, we feel every moment of the season right alongside the fans,' Pizza 73 marketing director Adam Williamson said. 'This team gave the city so much to be proud of, and this is our way of showing appreciation to the heart of the community — Oil Country.'
Edmonton Journal
19 minutes ago
- Edmonton Journal
New names likely to extend Hockey Hall of Fame wait time for others
Article content Ryan Getzlaf The life-long Anaheim Ducks centre holds several franchise records to go with their '07 Cup. Double Olympic gold medallist also won the World Cup and '05 world junior title. Joe Thornton One of six players to have made it through 1,700 career games, his 2006 Hart Trophy came in a rare split season with Boston and San Jose. Also won Olympic, World Cup and world junior gold. More new eligible players Tuukka Rask The franchise wins leader in Boston, has a Cup as Tim Thomas's backup. At .921 has the second-best save percentage of 66 goalies that played in at least 200 games from 2009-2022. Dustin Brown Playing out of the spotlight, the Los Angeles Kings left winger has two Cups and 1,296 career points. Jason Spezza Ottawa's second all-time leading scorer behind Hall of Fame forward Daniel Alfredsson. Won gold with Canada at the 2015 world championship.
CBC
26 minutes ago
- CBC
Canada's Gabriel Diallo picks up another win on grass as Wimbledon draws near
Montreal's Gabriel Diallo picked up another win on grass as Canada's tennis players continued to prepare for Wimbledon. The 23-year-old Diallo advanced to the second round of the Mallorca Championships with a 7-5, 6-3 win over local favourite Jaume Munar of Spain on Monday, which took just 56 minutes to complete. The six-foot-eight Diallo fired 10 aces and saved both break points he faced. He broke Munar three times on four chances, including twice in a four-match winning streak to claim the second set. Diallo, 23, who won his first career ATP tournament two weeks ago at the grass-court Libema Open in the Netherlands, entered the tournament with a career-high world ranking of No. 41. He will next face Serbia's Laslo Djere at the ATP 250 grass-court tournament. Meanwhile, the top-seeded team of Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski and partner Erin Routliffe of New Zealand were eliminated in the first round of action at the WTA 500 Bad Homburg Open in Germany. Dabrowski, who played her first match after missing a month with a rib issue, seemed poised for a triumphant return after she and Dabrowski took the first set of a match against Taiwan's Wu Fang-Hsien and China's Jiang Xinyu. However, the reigning WTA Finals doubles champions ultimately lost the match 6-7 (7), 7-5, 10-8. Main-draw action at Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam of the tennis season, begins June 30 on the grass courts of the All England Club.
