Canadian basketball history was made on Sunday, as for only the fourth time ever, a Canadian won the National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player Award. For Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Toronto, Ontario, this was his second straight NBA MVP award, as he also won the award for the 2024-25 NBA season. The only other Canadian to be named NBA MVP was Steve Nash of Victoria, British Columbia. The Phoenix Suns point guard received the honour in 2004-05, and again in 2005-06.
In 2025-26, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 31.1 points per game, 6.6 assists per game, 4.3 rebounds per game and 1.4 steals per game. The Toronto native had a field goal percentage of .553, three point percentage of .386, and free throw percentage of .879. Gilgeous-Alexander led the NBA with 7.9 free throws made per game, 616 two-point shots made and 540 free throws made.
However, most importantly, Gilgeous-Alexander was the best player on the NBA’s best team. The Thunder had a record of 64 wins and 18 losses for a winning percentage of .780. Oklahoma City’s record this season was actually worse than last season when they had a regular season record of 68 wins and 14 losses for a winning percentage of .829. In the 2026 playoffs, the Thunder are a perfect 8-0 heading into the 2026 Western Conference Final on Monday night against the San Antonio Spurs.
