Shai Gilgeous-Alexander becomes third OKC Thunder to win the NBA MVP Award

MVPs are available in all shapes and sizes.

Like Kevin Durant, a 7-foot value of the basketball gods with a mythical combination of size and skill. As we have ever seen.

Or Russell Westbrook, a terroristing nature of nature and evil. Mr. Triple-Double.

And then there is the latest MVP of the NBA, as announced on Wednesday evening: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

A player whose movements are more unpredictable than that of a paper plane that is trapped in a tornado – rises and slide, turning and turning and turning and fluttering and tumbling and immersing – often at once.

A cool Canadian, the second from his country (Steve Nash) to win MVP. A native Hamilton, Ontario, who appropriately spent his last two high school years in one place called Hamilton Heights in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The first Kentucky Wildcat to win the award. The first guard that MVP has been using since James Harden in 2018.

A fashion setting like Westbrook with the aesthetic lightness of Durant.

Three MVPs from the third locked market in the NBA within 12 years.

Thunder fans for 3,502. Sometimes remember how happy they are.

Guess what the grizzlies, hornets, magic, networks, pacers, pelicans, pistons and raptors don't have? A single MVP, forget three.

The thunder has existed since 2008 and is already in the company of the Lakers, Celtics, 76 and Rockets as the only five teams that have produced at least three different MVP winners.

Philadelphia has the most with five: Wilt, Dr. J, Moses Malone, Allen Iverson and Joel Embiid. The Lakers and Celtics have four: Kareem, Magic, Shaq and Kobe. Cousy, Russell, Cowens and Bird. Houston has three: Moses, Hakeem and hard.

And now there is KD, Russ and SGA in OKC.

“These boys did amazing things with the game and changed the game so that you can't come,” said Gilgeous-Alexander on Wednesday evening after he had accepted the award. “In order to be in the same breath at all, it is difficult to put into words at all.

“I know Kevin and I know Russell. I know the children they were, and they only dreamed and worked hard and came to this position, and I too.”

How Thunder MVP season for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are compared

Let's not compare your MVP seasons so as not to put their size against each other, but to show how each of the three is a unique one.

Kevin Durant in 2013-14: 32.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 3.5 sales, 1.3 steals, 0.7 blocks, 50% FG, 39% 3FG, 87% FT
Russell Westbrook in 2016-17: 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds, 10.4 assists, 5.4 sales, 1.6 steals, 0.4 blocks, 43% FG, 34% 3FG, 85% ft
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in 2024-25: 32.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 2.4 sales, 1.7 steals, 1.0 blocks, 52% FG, 38% 3FG, 90% ft

After the efficiency assessment of Basketball Reference, the SGA season was 30.7 per. Westbrook's was second (30.6) and Durant's third (29.8). Prefer cardboard plus/minus? The same order is.

The SGA MVP season was the best of the three from efficiency points and for his two-way game game, but Durant and Westbrook played in five more games and in a few hundred minutes as SGA in their MVP season.

This is the product of many peace for SGA, which his team led to 68 victories in his MVP season, compared to Durants 59 and Westbrooks 47.

The combination of his MVP with an NBA title would be the ultimate price for SGA – one neither Durant nor Westbrook in Oklahoma City.

Maybe the third time is a spell.

Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Do you have a story idea for Joe? Send him an email to jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support JOE's work and other Oklahoman journalists by buying A Digital subscription today at subcribe.oklahoman.com.

How Thunder MVP season for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are compared

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