Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander capped off one of the most impressive individual seasons in recent NBA history as he won Finals MVP while leading his team to a championship in Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night.
Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 29 points, dished out 12 assists and pulled in five rebounds in the Thunder’s 103-91 victory over the Indiana Pacers, became the first player since Shaquille O’Neal in 2000 to win the scoring title, regular season MVP and Finals MVP in the same season. The only two other players to accomplish that feat: Michael Jordan (four times) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1971).
Additionally, Gilgeous-Alexander became the first player since LeBron James in 2013 to win both regular season MVP and Finals MVP in the same season.
In the Thunder’s victory, Gilgeous-Alexander became the third player in NBA Finals history to have 25 points and 12 assists in a Game 7, joining Walt Frazier (36 points, 19 assists in 1970) and Jerry West (42 points, 12 assists in 1969). On top of that, he became the first player with at least 12 assists in Game 7 of the Finals since Magic Johnson in 1988.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s best game of the series came in Game 1 when he finished with 38 points in a 111-110 loss. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with at least 30 points in four of the seven games in his first trip to the biggest stage in the sport.
In addition to earning league MVP and landing on the All-NBA team for the third consecutive season, Gilgeous-Alexander became the fourth recipient of the Magic Johnson Western Conference finals MVP after a standout series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
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