BACK-TO-BACK FOR THE KING! Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is officially your 2026 NBA Most Valuable Player! SGA dominated the voting with 83 first-place votes after averaging 31.1 PPG and leading OKC to a 64-18 record.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has become the second consecutive recipient of the National Basketball Association’s Most Valuable Player award.
This follows another great season in which the Oklahoma City Thunder defended their title as the champions.
Back-to-Back MVP
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continues to belong to an exclusive list of players who have won MVP titles consecutively within their active years. He is also one of only seven players to win MVP awards twice prior to the age of 28, including Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks), Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors), Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs), Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls), and LeBron James.
Notably, all players who won MVP awards consecutively during their active years have been elected to the Hall of Fame upon retirement. These players include Steve Nash, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Moses Malone, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, and Bill Russell.
“It’s special,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of joining such exclusive company. “All those guys have shaped the game of basketball. All those guys have changed the game and how it’s played and how it was approached before that. To be in just that circle, to be in that conversation, it’s something that I don’t take lightly. I’m super grateful for it.”
Your 2025-26 @Kia NBA MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander!
🔥 14th ever back-to-back winner
🔥 Broke Wilt’s 20+ point game streak record
🔥 Joined MJ as the only guards to average 30+ PPG on 50+ FG% in four straight seasons
🔥 Became the only guard in NBA history to average 30+ PPG on… https://t.co/ZnSFCtt5vm pic.twitter.com/TVW4qNwQ17— NBA (@NBA) May 18, 2026
Burberry Coats and Brotherhood
Gilgeous-Alexander was positioned in the middle of his Thunder teammates who formed a circle around him at a news conference conducted in their practice facilities, much like how things went last season when he won his first MVP title.
Each player was wearing a Burberry trench coat, an expensive gift from Gilgeous-Alexander himself in a fancy gift box, but pointed out that the coats fit all the other players except Chet Holmgren, whose 7 feet 1-inch height made him a perfect candidate for a customized coat.
No Time to Celebrate
However, it won’t take long before all the excitement ends, because his most awaited series showdown with his fellow MVP candidate, Victor Wembanyama, will be held Monday night against the Spurs.
“Obviously a really good team,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of the Spurs. “They’ve been right behind us all year so we obviously don’t take them in the slightest. They’re a really good team.”
Major praise and respect from his peers 🤝
Stars around the league weigh in on the greatness of back-to-back @Kia NBA MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander! pic.twitter.com/lQuVNzeHfR
— NBA (@NBA) May 18, 2026
Jokic and Wembanyama were the other finalists for this year’s MVP Award. Gilgeous-Alexander was the highest among the three MVP contenders, getting a staggering 83 out of 100 first-place votes, Jokic got second place, and Wembanyama placed third. This is the sixth consecutive season where Jokic has garnered a top-two vote in the MVP Awards, following a similar achievement by Bird (1981-86) and Russell (1958-63).
The other nominees who made it into the top-five list include Luka Doncic from the Los Angeles Lakers and Cade Cunningham from the Detroit Pistons. Both players came close to being ineligible for postseason award consideration but have received an exception after appealing the decision. Finishing fifth, Cunningham received two first-place votes, becoming the first American player to get first-place votes since 2021.
The Stats Behind the Stature
Gilgeous-Alexander, 27, was second in scoring with an average of 31.1 points per game and was shooting at a career-high percentage of 55.3 percent.
Additionally, he recorded a career-high assist of 6.6 in helping the Thunder secure their second-straight NBA-record-best win of 64-18.
Gilgeous-Alexander is the current Finals MVP, and he won the Clutch Player of the Year award from the NBA. His clutch point tally was the highest in the NBA at 175; he recorded 16 clutch go-ahead shots to lead the league. Also, his plus-minus was the highest at plus-93.
“Some of it is just luck,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “As an NBA player, you have no control over other grown men in this business and I’m just lucky enough to be surrounded by great human beings, from the front office, coaching staff, to the guys that I play on the court with every night. We all want to see the next man win and do whatever it takes ultimately to win. We have that common goal. And yeah, I can’t take credit for that.
“It’s more than me, it’s bigger than me.”
