Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Wins Back-to-Back NBA MVP Awards
The Hamilton, Ontario native becomes the 14th player in NBA history to win consecutive MVP awards, cementing his place among the league's elite.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 28, from Hamilton, Ontario, has won his second consecutive NBA MVP award—and in doing so, joined one of the most exclusive clubs in professional basketball.
Only 13 other players in NBA history have won back-to-back MVP awards. The list includes names like Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Gilgeous-Alexander now sits among them, cementing himself as one of the league's most dominant individual talents.
He's in his eighth season, playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder, and shows no signs of slowing down. The MVP vote came in before the playoffs really got rolling, so his regular-season dominance was the measure. For Canadian basketball fans—and there are plenty who've been watching SGA's rise—this is a moment to mark. He's the second Canadian to win back-to-back MVPs in the modern era, and he's doing it at an elite level that'll likely keep him in contention for years.
The Thunder are built around him, and they're expecting a long playoff run. For now, though, the award itself is validation that one of Canada's best has arrived at the absolute top of the sport.