How Shai Gilgeous-Alexander edged Jokic, Wembanyama for back-to-back MVP
A year after carrying the Oklahoma City Thunder to their first NBA title since the franchise moved from Seattle, the Thunder‘s franchise guard has done it again at the individual level. The 2025-26 NBA MVP race ended Sunday with the same outcome as the year prior, even with the field tightening considerably.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has won his second consecutive Most Valuable Player award, becoming the 14th player in league history to claim back-to-back MVP honors, per ESPN’s Shams Charania.
The 27-year-old Canadian edged out Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama, both of whom turned in cases that would have won most years.
What pushed Gilgeous-Alexander past Jokic and Wembanyama this season
The argument for the Thunder guard came down to availability, scoring, and team results that nobody else in the league could match. He led Oklahoma City to 64 regular-season wins while averaging 31.1 points on the kind of efficiency that rarely shows up at that volume. He even broke Wilt Chamberlain’s mark for consecutive 20-point games during the season.
Jokic was hardly absent from the conversation. The Nuggets star averaged a triple-double for the second straight year at 27.7 points, 12.9 rebounds and 10.7 assists. Wembanyama, fully recovered from the blood clot issue that cost him last year’s stretch run, dragged the Spurs into the second seed in the West while putting up 25 points and 11.5 rebounds nightly.
Breaking: Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has won his second consecutive NBA Most Valuable Player award, becoming the 14th player in league history to win back-to-back MVPs, multiple sources tell ESPN.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 17, 2026
Oklahoma City’s status as the reigning champion, paired with Gilgeous-Alexander’s nightly grind against the league’s top perimeter defenders, separated him in the final ballots.
He becomes one of just seven players in the past 40 years to claim multiple MVPs before turning 28, joining LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan, Stephen Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Jokic on that list.
The Thunder open the Western Conference Finals against Wembanyama and the Spurs on Monday at 8:30 p.m. ET. Win there, win the Finals, and Gilgeous-Alexander joins Russell, Jordan, and LeBron as the only players to win back-to-back MVPs and titles in the same window.