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NBA Reveals Awesome Note on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander MVP Win

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Dean Koutouratsas | Last updated May 23, 2025 2:51 PM ET

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won the NBA regular season MVP award on Thursday.

In an X post on Friday, the league announced that Gilgeous-Alexander, who is from Canada, is the seventh straight international player to win the award and the eighth different international player to do so in league history.

The league MVP has been given out since the 1955-56 season. Only American players had won it until the 1993-94 season, when Houston Rockets Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon became the first international player to win the coveted award while representing Nigeria.

7th straight season an international player has been named #KiaMVP!

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the 8th player born outside the U.S. to win the award. pic.twitter.com/tStDqbOJFh
— NBA (@NBA) May 23, 2025

San Antonio Spurs Hall of Fame forward Tim Duncan, who was born in the U.S. Virgin Islands, won the award back-to-back in 2001-02 and 2002-03. Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash, from Canada, also won the league MVP in back-to-back seasons in 2004-05 and 2005-06. Dallas Mavericks all-time great forward Dirk Nowitzki, who is from Germany, followed this up by winning the award in 2006-07.

Following a 12-year stint in which no international players won the league MVP, Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who represents Greece and Nigeria, won the award back-to-back during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons. Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, who is from Serbia, went on a run where he took home the coveted award three times in four seasons: 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2023-24.

In 2022-23, Philadelphia 76ers Center Joel Embiid, from Cameroon, won the award over Jokic. Now, there is Gilgeous-Alexander, who is the third player in franchise history to win the award, joining Kevin Durant (2013-14) and Russell Westbrook (2016-17).

Gilgeous-Alexander and Oklahoma City are back in action on Saturday in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals against the Minnesota Timberwolves at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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