Shai Gilgeous-Alexander caps dream season
OKLAHOMA CITY — He’s the most valuable player. The scoring champion. And now, an NBA champion along with NBA Finals MVP.
All in one season.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has entered one of the game’s most elite clubs.
The 26-year-old Canadian is atop the basketball world now in almost every way imaginable. Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder captured the NBA title on Sunday night, beating the Indiana Pacers 103-91 to win the finals in a seven-game thriller.
He becomes the fourth player in NBA history to win MVP, Finals MVP, a scoring title and play for a champion in the same season. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it once, Michael Jordan then did it four times, and Shaquille O’Neal was the last entrant into that fraternity — until now.
“A lot of hard work, a lot of hours in the gym,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “This isn’t just a win for me. This is a win for my family. This is a win for my friends. This is a win for everybody that was in my corner growing up. This is a win for the fans, the best fans in the world.”
The title caps a season where the Thunder won 84 games, tied for the third most by any team in any season in NBA history. Gilgeous-Alexander finished the season with 64 games of at least 30 points. The only other players to score 30 points that many times in a season: Wilt Chamberlain, Rick Barry, Elgin Baylor, Bob McAdoo, James Harden, Jordan and Abdul-Jabbar.
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.
“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.