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After being selected as one of the three finalists alongside Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been awarded the 2024-25 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award.
The league revealed the voting outcomes on Wednesday.
The Oklahoma City Thunder star accumulated a total of 913 points, receiving 71 out of 100 first-place votes. Nikola Jokic, the Serbian leader of the Denver Nuggets, garnered 787 points, while Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks finished with 470 points.
According to the official press release: “Guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder has been honored with the Michael Jordan Trophy as the 2024-25 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player.”
This marks Gilgeous-Alexander’s first MVP award; he placed second in last year’s voting and fifth in the 2022-23 season. He is now the second Canadian to achieve this distinction, following two-time winner Steve Nash (2004-05 and 2005-06). Gilgeous-Alexander is also the third player to claim the award while with the Thunder, following Kevin Durant (2013-14) and Russell Westbrook (2016-17).
During the 2024-25 regular season, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 32.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.72 steals, and 1.01 blocks over 34.2 minutes across 76 games, setting personal records in points, assists, and blocks per game.
In his seventh year in the league, Gilgeous-Alexander claimed the NBA scoring title for the first time, becoming the first player since James Harden in the 2018-19 season to lead the league in games scoring at least 20 points (75), 30 points (49), 40 points (13), and 50 points (four) in a single season.
His only regular-season outing with fewer than 20 points was an 18-point game against the San Antonio Spurs on October 30, 2024. He maintained a scoring streak of at least 20 points in each of his last 72 games, marking the longest such streak in a single season since 1963-64, when Wilt Chamberlain had an 80-game streak and Oscar Robertson had a 76-game streak.
Standing at 6 feet 6 inches, Gilgeous-Alexander achieved a career-high shooting percentage of 51.9% from the field, 37.5% from beyond the arc, and an outstanding 89.8% from the free-throw line (sixth in the league). He led the NBA with 601 made free throws and set a personal record with 163 three-pointers, surpassing his previous career-high of 95 from last season by 68.
Gilgeous-Alexander joined Michael Jordan as one of the only players in NBA history to average at least 32.0 points and 6.0 assists per game while shooting 50.0% or better from the field in a season. Jordan achieved this feat twice during the 1988-89 and 1989-90 seasons.
On the defensive end, Gilgeous-Alexander was the only player in the league to average at least 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocks per game. He ranked fifth in the NBA in steals for a Thunder team that led the league in defensive rating (106.6).
In addition to being named an NBA All-Star for the third straight year, Gilgeous-Alexander received the Kia NBA Western Conference Player of the Month honor three times (October/November, December, and March) and was recognized as the NBA Western Conference Player of the Week twice (Weeks 10 and 20). He also earned a place on the All-Tournament Team of the Emirates NBA Cup, leading Oklahoma City to a runner-up finish.
Guided by Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder (68-14) secured the best record in the NBA and tied for the sixth-best single-season record in league history. Oklahoma City outperformed opponents by an NBA-record average of 12.9 points per game.
The winner of the 2024-25 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award was determined by a global panel of 100 media voters. The independent accounting firm Ernst & Young LLP managed the tabulation of the votes.
