Shai Gilgeous-Alexander runs away with MVP crown for second straight year

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander repeated as MVP by a chasm on Sunday, May 17, 2026.

Alexander bagged the MVP title by a large margin in a ceremony attended by Thunder chairman Clay Bennett and coach Mark Daigneault, who were seated in the front row during the ceremony on Sunday, May 17.

The OKC Thunder has produced NBA’s returning MVP one more time.

He has now become the 14th NBA player ever to win it twice in a row.

Gilgeous-Alexander won the MVP award in a landslide after another stellar year for the defending champion OKC Thunder.

Besides winning the MVP for the second consecutive time, he is also the fifth active player to be named the MVP in regular seasons.

SGA, in over four decades is the only seventh player to have won multiple MVPs before turning 28.

The others in the list include Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, Stephen Curry, Tim Duncan, Michael Jordan and LeBron James.

After landing in the elite club, Gilgeous-Alexander said, “It’s special. All those guys have shaped the game of basketball.

“All those guys have changed the game and how it’s played and how it was approached before that.

To be in just that circle, to be in that conversation, it’s something that I don’t take lightly. I’m super grateful for it.”

The Thunder are set to clash in their buzzing Western Conference Finals Game 1 against Spurs Monday evening, May 18, 2026, at Oklahoma City.

SGA, 27, ended the season as the NBA’s second leading scorer, averaging 31.1 points per game, while posting a career-best 55.3% from the field.

He also averaged a career-high 6.6 assists for the 64-18 Thunder, who had the NBA’s best record for the second season in a row.

For SGA, it’s the fourth consecutive season that he has been ranked in the top five in MVP voting.

Gilgeous-Alexander came fifth in 2022-23 and second in 2023-24 having won the previous two MVP races.