Shai Gilgeous-Alexander capped off a historic season on Sunday night when the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 to clinch their first NBA Championship.
To no surprise, Gilgeous-Alexander took home NBA Finals MVP for his efforts, closing out the series with a 29-point, 12-assist performance on 8-of-27 shooting in Game 7.
In the 2024-25 season, Gilgeous-Alexander was named regular season MVP, NBA Finals MVP and won the scoring title, which has only been done by four individuals. The Thunder guard is the first player to accomplish the feat since Shaquille O’Neal did it with the Lakers in 2000:
Since MVP began in 1955-56, only 4 players have won the scoring title, MVP and NBA title in the same season in league history:
🏆 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
🏆 Shaquille O'Neal
🏆 Michael Jordan
🏆 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar pic.twitter.com/lIEfJkHvIH— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 23, 2025
Gilgeous-Alexander also recently became the first player since another Lakers legend in Kobe Bryant to record at least 15 games of at least 30 points in a single postseason run, leading the way for the Thunder the whole year.
At just 26 years of age, Gilgeous-Alexander is already carving out a career for himself as an all-time great. This Thunder team is built for a sustained run of success, so it will be interesting to see how many championships and accolades Gilgeous-Alexander can rack up to vault himself into conversations with other all-time greats like Bryant and O’Neal.
Jalen Williams sees similarities between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander & Kobe Bryant
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had an incredible season and has even been drawing comparisons to Lakers legend Kobe Bryant for his play style with Jalen Williams recently saying he sees similarities between the two.
“Yeah, first, the Shai question, there are a lot of similarities there,” Williams said before Game 2 of the NBA Finals. “I feel like if you are really paying attention to basketball and watch the way he plays, there’s a lot of similarities. It’s cool that he can pick certain aspects of his game to mimic that a little bit and then add his own touch to it. That shows the player that he is, to be able to steal bits and pieces from his favorite players and be able to put it into a game and work on it. There’s a lot of work behind the scenes that goes into him being able to do that.”
If Gilgeous-Alexander can continue to rack up titles, then the comparisons to Bryant will only get even louder.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!
