DENVER — Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player, beating out Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic for the league’s highest individual honor.
Gilgeous-Alexander led the NBA in scoring this season, averaging 32.7 points per game. The Thunder also recorded arguably the most dominant regular season of all time, notching 54 double-digit wins and outscoring opponents by more than 1,000 points over the course of the year.
Gilgeous-Alexander won with a landslide 71 first place votes and 29 second place votes, while Jokic earned 29 first place votes and 71 second place votes.
It's the first MVP for Gilgeous-Alexander after he finished second to Jokic in the voting last season. He received 15 first place votes, 40 second place votes and 40 third place votes in 2024. Jokic received 79 first place votes, 18 second place votes and 2 third place votes last year.
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If stats were the deciding factor, Jokic would have been a shoo-in for MVP honors. He averaged 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists per game this season, becoming the third player ever to average a triple-double over the course of a season and the first to finish in the top 10 in points, rebounds, assists and steals per game.
Jokic had won the award three times in the last four seasons.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will officially be announced as the NBA MVP tonight. The Nikola Jokic fatigue among the media voters is real. But Jokic is the REAL MVP. 29.6 points. 12.7 rebounds, 10.2 assists per game. Only player ever to finish top 3 in points, rebounds, and assists.
— Lionel Bienvenu (@lionelbienvenu) May 21, 2025
Milwaukee Bucks big man Giannis Antetokounmpo was the other finalist, finishing third for the third time in four seasons. He won the award in the 2019-20 season.
The MVP announcement comes three days after the Thunder ousted the Nuggets from the playoffs in the Western Conference semifinals, capped by a blowout win in Game 7. Oklahoma City would go on to take a 1-0 lead over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals.
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