
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Toronto, Ontario has won the 2023 Lionel Conacher Award, which is presented to the Canadian Press Athlete of the Year. He became the second basketball player to win the award, following Steve Nash of Victoria, British Columbia, who received the honour while with the Dallas Mavericks in 2002, and the Phoenix Suns in 2005 and 2006.
Gilgeous-Alexander also won the Northern Star Award earlier this month, which is presented to the best Canadian athlete of the year. In 2022-23, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 31.4 points per game, 5.5 assists per game, 4.8 rebounds per game, 1.6 steals per game, one block per game, and had a field goal percentage of .510, three-point percentage of .345, and a free throw percentage of .905. Also while with the Thunder in 2022-23, Gilgeous-Alexander was on the All-NBA first team, and was fourth in the NBA in scoring.
In 2023-24, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 31.1 points per game, 6.5 assists per game, 5.8 rebounds per game, a NBA-high 2.8 steals per game, a field goal percentage of .543, three-point percentage of .302, and a free throw percentage of .909. On the international stage, Gilgeous-Alexander led Canada to its first ever medal at the FIBA World Cup (a bronze medal in Asia), and helped Canada qualify for the men’s basketball tournament at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.