Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Snubbed By These 17 Media Members In MVP Voting

OKC Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won his second straight NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award this season. He had 83 first-place votes from NBA media members to secure the award. 

However, 17 media members snubbed Gilgeous-Alexander in their MVP winner ballot, as revealed by Thunder beat reporter Clemente Almanza of the Thunder Wire. 

The notable names were former NBA head coach Steve Van Gundy of Prime, The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo! Sports, and Justine Termine of NBA Radio. 

The 13 others are: Sacramento Bee’s Jason Anderson, Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang, Detroit News’ Coty Davis, Cleveland’s Chris Fedor, AFP’s Robin Gremmel, CBS Sports’ James Herbert, New York Daily’s CJ Holmes, ESPN Latin America’s Sebastian Martinez-Christensen, Sport 5’s Yoav Modai, The Ringer’s Michael Pina, Philadelphia Inquirer’s Keith Pompey, The Athletic’s Jason Quick, beIN Sports’ Remi Reverchon

Gilgeous-Alexander put up 31.1 points, 6.6 assists, and 4.3 rebounds per game for the Thunder in the regular season, leading them to the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference for the third straight season with 64 wins. 

Gilgeous-Alexander had a strong lead over the second-place Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets and Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs. 

Gilgeous-Alexander, who is just 27 years old, is the 14th NBA player in history to win back-to-back MVP awards. 

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Explains What He Did Behind The Scenes To Win Another MVP Award

GettyShai Gilgeous-Alexander explains secrets behind MVP campaign.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander deflected credit when he was interviewed by NBA on Prime after he was announced as this season’s MVP.

Instead, he cited his hard work throughout the season and how his Thunder teammates helped him gain more votes by playing their roles tremendously throughout the regular season. 

“Hard work obviously, not being satisfied, but the other guys in the room really having my back, night-in, night-out,” he said. “It’s a long season, full of ups and downs, injuries, things like that. So those guys, just tying their boots up and going to war every night for me and with me — I wouldn’t have won 64 games without them.

“We have so much fun together. The NBA at times can seem like a business and a job, but these guys really make it seem just like fun, and what it was like when I played basketball at just a young age. I think that’s why myself and the rest of the guys have had success.”

Gilgeous-Alexander appeared in 68 regular-season games, while the Thunder struggled with numerous injuries from their players throughout the year, 

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Can Add Another Trophy To His Shelf

GettyOKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA – MAY 20: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2 of the Oklahoma City Thunder warms up prior to a game against the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Western Conference Finals at Paycom Center on May 20, 2026 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is again in a position to potentially win another trophy, this year the NBA championship. 

The Thunder is currently leading the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, 3-2, and is just one win away from the NBA Finals, where they could face the New York Knicks. 

If the Thunder wins Game 6, the team has a shot to win two straight titles and become the first team to do so since the Golden State Warriors from 2017 and 2018. 

Gilgeous-Alexander is expected to be the barometer of the Thunder’s title run once more. He has a chance to close out the Spurs on Thursday, May 28.

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