The case for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was simple. He’s the best player on an Oklahoma City Thunder team that had the best record this season and set a league mark for margin of victory. If that wasn’t enough, he also won the scoring title.

That’s an MVP year.

Gilgeous-Alexander was announced Wednesday as the NBA’s Most Valuable Player, his first time winning the award. It’s now seven straight years that a player born outside the U.S. won MVP, extending the longest such streak in league history.

Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 32.7 points, 6.4 assists and five rebounds per game this season, leading the Thunder to a 68-14 record. The Thunder outscored teams by 12.9 points per game, the biggest margin in league history.

He becomes the second Canadian to win MVP; Steve Nash won it twice.

Denver’s Nikola Jokic — a winner of three of the last four MVP awards — was second, despite a season for the ages. He averaged 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists per game, the first center to average a triple-double and the first player since all those stats were tracked to finish in the NBA’s top three in all three of those categories.

It was the sixth instance of a player finishing a season averaging a triple-double — at least 10 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds per game. Russell Westbrook did it four times and Oscar Robertson once, but only one of those triple-double seasons led to an MVP win.

Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, who averaged 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game, was third. He started this run of international players winning MVP; Antetokounmpo, of Greek and Nigerian descent, won in 2019 and 2020.

Jokic, a Serbian, won in 2021, 2022 and 2024. And Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, who was born in Cameroon but since became a U.S. citizen, won the award in 2023.

Timberwolves seek answers to Thunder’s defense

The Minnesota Timberwolves must solve Oklahoma City’s ‘AAU’ defense tonight to avoid a 2-0 deficit in the Western Conference finals.

Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards used the term to describe Oklahoma City’s young, aggressive unit after the Thunder held the Timberwolves to 34.9% shooting in a 114-88 victory in Game 1 on Tuesday.

“I mean, it’s hard to process because it was different every time,” Edwards said after Game 1. “Heavy in the gaps, sometimes trap the ball screens sometimes don’t. Sometimes just run and jump. It’s kind of similar to like AAU. They remind me of like an AAU defensive team. Just run and jump. Fly around. It’s pretty good.”

Edwards said the first key for him is to be more aggressive. He didn’t like that he scored 18 points on just 13 shots in a Game 1 loss, well below his normal output.