Alexander won this season s MVP, with many statistics comparable to Jordan s will be eligible to sign a $300 million contract

May 22nd News According to well-known sports journalist Shams Charania, sources revealed on Wednesday that after winning his first scoring title and leading the Thunder to a league-best record of 68, Shay Gilgers-Alexander won the 2024-25 NBA regular season MVP. This is the first most valuable player trophy of his career, and the league will officially announce the honor today. He also became the third MVP winner in the Thunder history, with the first two being Kevin Durant (2014) and Russell Westbrook (2017).

Just a few days ago, Alexander led the Thunder to defeat the Nuggets led by Nikola Jokic in Game 7 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals. Last season, Alexander ranked second in the MVP selection, behind Jokic, who won the third MVP award in four years at the time.

Although Jokic's performance this season is the best in his career (averages 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds, 10.2 assists, and 1.8 steals per game), Alexander also delivered a very historical season. The Thunder he led not only ended with a league-first record, but also broke the NBA record of net winning points in a single season (+12.9 per game) and won 18 more games than the Nuggets.

This season, Alexander averaged a league-high 32.7 points per game, shooting as high as 51.9%, plus 6.4 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.0 blocks. He became the only player in NBA history, averaging at least 30 points, 50% shooting percentage, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1 block in one season - except Michael Jordan. Jordan achieved this twice in the 1987-88 season and 1990-91 season, and won the first two MVP trophys of his career in these two seasons.

Alexander, 26, also joined an extremely rare elite club: still leading the league's scoring list in a team with over 60 wins. This is the 10th time in NBA history, and there has been only one time before the player did not receive an MVP, which was in the 1996-97 season, when Karl Malone defeated Jordan to receive the MVP of the year.

It is worth mentioning that Alexander averaged more than 30 points per game for the third consecutive season and shot above 50%. Only Jabbar, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Chamberlain and Jordan were able to accomplish this feat for three consecutive years - all of whom have won multiple MVPs.

In addition, Alexander is also one of the Thunder's most important contributors to the league's first defensive efficiency this season. He has completed 208 "defensive contributions" this season (stealers + blocks), second only to San Antonio's Victor Vinbanyama and Atlanta's Dyson Daniels, and ranked third in the league.

Over the past two seasons, Alexander has been selected for the NBA All-Squad for one consecutive team. With his performance this season, he is already qualified to sign an unprecedented four-year, $294 million super maximum salary renewal this summer. The contract will set the highest annual salary record in NBA history - an average annual salary of $73.3 million.