DENVER -- Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will be named the NBA's Most Valuable Player, beating out Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic for the league's highest individual honor, according to an ESPN report.
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.
ESPN basketball insider Shams Charania broke the news on the social media site X Wednesday afternoon. The MVP was set to be formally announced at 5 p.m. Mountain Time Wednesday.
It would 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.
Milwaukee Bucks big man Giannis Antetokounmpo was the other finalist, presumably set to finish third in the voting 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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