Hamilton’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander named NBA’s MVP

Hamilton’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was voted in yesterday as the National Basketball Association’s 2024-25’s ‘Most Valuable Player’.

It is the first time the Oklahoma City Thunder point guard has won the award and the second time for a Canadian player, with British Columbia’s Steve Nash being voted best player in 2005 and 2006.

It’s also the seventh straight year that a player born outside the United States has won the MVP title.

Gilgeous-Alexander beat out previous winners Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and Denver Nuggets centre Nikola Jokic for the award.

The twenty-six-year old led the league this season with 32.7 points, 7.9 free throws and 21.8 field-goal attempts per game. He is also a three-time NBA All-Star and two-time All-NBA First Team member.

Last year Gilgeous-Alexander was the second NBA player to win the Northern Star Award, which is presented annually to Canada’s best athlete. He was also a valuable player in leading Canada to a bronze medal at the FIBA World Championship in 2023 and the 3-1 Canadian team to the quarterfinals of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Gilgeous-Alexander was born in Toronto and raised in Hamilton and attended St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School before switching to Sir Allan MacNab Secondary School and on to finish high school in Tennessee to focus on his basketball.

He played college ball for the Kentucky Wildcats based out of the University of Kentucky in Lexington.

In the 2018 NBA draft, Gilgeous-Alexander was selected 11th overall by the Charlotte Hornets before being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers the same day. He was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in July 2019.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are currently up one game against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA Western Conference Finals. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points in the 114-88 win on Tuesday.

-With files from The Canadian Press.

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