OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander received a prestigious honor from city mayor David Holt after winning MVP. After Gilgeous-Alexander was named the 2024-25 MVP, beating out Denver Nuggets All-Star Nikola Jokic, the Oklahoma City mayor declared May 22, 2025, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Day.

Holt made the announcement about Gilgeous-Alexander's special honor on his X, formerly Twitter.

“On behalf of the people of Oklahoma City, I congratulate our very own Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for being named the Most Valuable Player of the National Basketball Association!” Holt said.

Averaging 32.7 points, Gilgeous-Alexander led the NBA in scoring this season. He also led the league in 20-point games (75), 30-point games (49), 40-point games (13), and 50-point games (4). Gilgeous-Alexander also led the league in made field goals (860), free throws (601), and win shares (16.1). He also averaged 6.4 assists, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.7 steals in 2024-25.

Considering Jokic's historic regular season, during which he became just the third player in NBA history to average a triple-double over the course of a year, Gilgeous-Alexander's MVP win stands out even more. Jokic averaged 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 10.2 assists in 2024-25, joining Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook as the only players to achieve such a feat. Gilgeous-Alexander was joined by his Thunder teammates to celebrate after the announcement was made.

Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has big plans after winning MVP. Leading the championship-contending Thunder to a 1-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Gilgeous-Alexander reflected on his early playing days during his MVP acceptance speech.

Gilgeous-Alexander revealed when he first started playing basketball and how his knack for winning remains amid the Thunder's pursuit of the franchise's first NBA championship.

“The way I see it, everything is left,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “When I picked up a basketball and I was nine years old, playing AAU, I never sat there like I wanna be an All-Star. I wanna be an MVP. I sat there like ‘I wanna win this tournament.’ Winning is everything. If you don’t win, none of it matters. That’s just how I see the game. That’s how I see competition in general.”

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 31 points on 10-of-27 attempts and made 11-of-14 free throws in Game 1. He also finished with nine assists, five rebounds, and three steals. He's averaging 29.2 points, 6.6 assists, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.6 steals in 12 playoff games as the Thunder swept the Grizzlies in the opening round of the playoffs before eliminating the Nuggets in seven games.

The Thunder will look to grab a 2-0 lead in Game 2 on Thursday.