Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Toronto, Ontario has won the 2025 Northern Star Award. The award is presented to the top Canadian athlete of the year on an annual basis.He previously won the award in 2023.
It was simply a magical season for Gilgeous-Alexander. In the process, he won three prestigious awards–the NBA Finals, NBA most valuable player, and NBA Finals MVP. Gilgeous-Alexander also led the NBA in scoring with 32.7 points per game. In addition to being the first Canadian ever to win the NBA Finals MVP award, Gilgeous-Alexander became only the fourth player in NBA history to win the NBA Finals MVP, NBA MVP and lead the league in scoring in the same season. The other three in NBA history to achieve that feat were Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal and Lew Alcindor (later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar).
In 2025-26, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging more points per game than when he led the NBA in scoring in 2024-25. This season he is averaging 32.8 points per game. Gilgeous-Alexander is currently second in the NBA in points per game. The only player averaging more points at the moment is Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers, who is averaging 35 points per game. However, one should realize that Doncic has played six fewer games than Gilgeous-Alexander, and that the Thunder are five and a half games ahead of the Lakers in the NBA standings.
