Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Raih Gelar MVP NBA Dua Musim Beruntun

Bintang Oklahoma City Thunder Shai Gilgeous-Alexander resmi dinobatkan sebagai Pemain Terbaik atau MVP NBA untuk musim reguler 2025/2026 dalam konferensi pers pada Minggu, 17 Mei 2026.

Pencapaian ini membuat pebasket asal Kanada tersebut masuk ke dalam kelompok elite sebagai salah satu dari 14 pemain dalam sejarah NBA yang mampu memenangkan penghargaan MVP dalam dua musim berturut-turut.

Acara penyerahan penghargaan tersebut dihadiri oleh jajaran petinggi klub, tim pelatih, keluarga, serta seluruh rekan setimnya yang kompak mengenakan jas hujan Burberry dan jam tangan Audemars Piguet pemberian dari Gilgeous-Alexander.

"The inner circle is something people forget about," kata Gilgeous-Alexander, "I get all the praise and people forget, I’m on the court for 2 1/2 hours every night and the rest of my days, you guys make my life seem this easy."

Gilgeous-Alexander menyampaikan rasa terima kasih yang mendalam kepada seluruh pihak di organisasi Thunder serta kota Oklahoma City yang telah mendukungnya sejak ia ditukar ke klub tersebut pada tahun 2019.

"There’s a reason why you have success when you come through this program in this facility and this city," ujar Gilgeous-Alexander, "Everything I just mentioned from the fans, the love they give, to the ownership, the front office, making things easy, making sure we’re getting our work in. The coach is playing the right brand of basketball, holding the right things accountable. The way things are in this organization, in this city, it breeds success and it’s no coincidence. I’m just lucky to end up here."

Dilansir dari nba.com, performa impresif sang garda utama sudah terlihat sejak awal musim saat ia mencetak 35 poin melawan Houston dan 55 poin melawan Indiana, yang membawa Thunder mencatat start dominan dengan rekor 22-1.

"I’m not really after the success," kata Gilgeous-Alexander, "There’s so many people in my life that sacrifice for me to just play this game that I love and I would be doing them a disservice if I didn’t give it my all. And that’s really what it’s about – making sure that when I’m done and I hang these shoes up that I give everything I have to the game. Then, whatever that looks like for me, I’ll live with. I’ll be more than pleased with what I got out of it.

Pemain berusia 27 tahun itu menegaskan bahwa motivasi utamanya bukanlah mengejar statistik atau popularitas di media sosial melainkan memberikan segalanya demi menghargai pengorbanan orang-orang terdekatnya.

"But none of the accolades and the points and all this stuff that’s cool on social media, none of that is what I’m after. I’m just after making sure that while I’m doing this thing, I give it my all and I’m not wasting nobody’s time," ucap Gilgeous-Alexander.

Sepanjang musim reguler, ia mencatatkan rata-rata 31,1 poin per gim dengan efisiensi tembakan mencapai 55,3 persen sekaligus menorehkan rekor NBA berupa 140 pertandingan berturut-turut dengan minimal mencetak 20 poin.

"Naturally, teams and players in NBA get better and then naturally, people get more familiar with your game, more familiar with your team, how you play," kata Gilgeous-Alexander, "So the league just got better like it always does. And then you just have a bigger target on your back as a competitor and guys in NBA really compete.

Thunder berhasil finis sebagai unggulan pertama di Wilayah Barat dengan mengemas 64 kemenangan setelah sempat bersaing ketat dengan San Antonio Spurs.

"You have something somebody wants to become a target. It’s just simple. But all you can do is focus on yourself, focus on your work, focus on your craft. Not only myself, (but) these guys up here doing that has really allowed us to continue to have," ujar Gilgeous-Alexander.

Berdasarkan laporan Hoops Rumors, hadiah jam tangan dan jas hujan mewah yang diberikan Gilgeous-Alexander kepada setiap rekan setimnya tersebut diperkirakan bernilai sekitar 40 ribu dolar AS per orang.

"There are so many people in my life who sacrificed for me to just play this game I love," kata Gilgeous-Alexander, "I would be doing them a disservice if I didn’t give it my all, and that’s really what it’s about. I’m making sure when I’m done and I hang these shoes up that I gave everything I had to the game. Whatever that looks like for me, I’ll live with. I'll be more than pleased with what I got out of it."

Gelar ini menjadi trofi MVP keempat bagi sejarah waralaba Thunder dalam 18 tahun terakhir, setelah sebelumnya tim ini juga berhasil merengkuh gelar juara NBA perdana mereka pada Juni 2025 lalu.

"But the accolades and points and all of the stuff that’s cool on social media, none of that is what I’m after. I’m just making sure that while I’m doing this thing I’m giving it my all and I’m not wasting anybody’s time," ucap Gilgeous-Alexander.

Ia juga menjadi garda kelima dalam sejarah liga yang mampu menyabet penghargaan MVP secara back-to-back.

"Thank you guys so much," ujar Gilgeous-Alexander, "From setting screens to rebounding when I miss to passing me the ball even though I don’t pass you the ball, everything you guys do to make me a better player out there, I really appreciate you guys. Basketball is obviously a team sport. All of the numbers, all of the accolades and everything I do on the court, if we won 10 games, I wouldn’t be in this conversation. So thank you guys so much. I love you guys."

Sebelum menutup pidatonya, ia memberikan pesan singkat yang menegaskan fokus tim untuk segera beralih ke babak playoff selanjutnya.

"We have a lot more work to do," kata Gilgeous-Alexander, "So after tonight, get back to work."

Kemenangan Gilgeous-Alexander ini sekaligus memperpanjang dominasi pebasket internasional dalam perebutan gelar MVP NBA menjadi delapan musim berturut-turut sejak tahun 2019, sebagaimana dilaporkan oleh Yahoo Sports.

Di sisi lain, pelatih kepala Thunder Mark Daigneault memberikan pujian khusus kepada performa Chet Holmgren yang tampil gemilang selama dua putaran pertama playoff pasca-pulih dari cedera pinggul.

"It just seems like he’s around the basket more," kata Mark Daigneault, "He’s finding more cracks, we’re finding him more … His decisiveness on the perimeter over time has smoothed. His shot-drive reads. His ability to move (the ball) quickly. And then we’ve talked about this a lot, but his versatility defensively. His ability to be impactful at the five, at the rim and also on the perimeter has unlocked a lot of options for us. The list is long, but it should be for a guy that’s as impactful as he is."

Oklahoma City Thunder dijadwalkan akan menjamu San Antonio Spurs pada Senin, 18 Mei 2026 waktu setempat untuk melakoni Game 1 babak Final Wilayah Barat.