Shai Gilgeous-Alexander aims to join Hall of Fame company in the NBA Finals

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has already secured the NBA's most prized individual award this season. Now, the reigning scoring champ has the Thunder on the verge of the franchise's first championship since relocating to Oklahoma City. 

After leading the league in scoring (32.7 points per game) and pioneering the Thunder to an NBA-best and franchise-best regular season record of 68-14, Gilgeous-Alexander was crowned NBA MVP for the 2024–25 campaign.

Winning the coveted MVP award has not always resulted in team success in the playoffs, however, as it's been a decade since the MVP went on to win an NBA championship.

Only a select few players, all Hall of Famers, have accomplished the feat. Gilgeous-Alexander could soon join the exclusive list of all-time greats. 

Players to win NBA Finals and be named MVP in the same season

Fourteen players in NBA history have won a championship and been named league MVP in the same season.

Bob Cousy of the Boston Celtics was the first to do it in 1956-57. Fellow Celtics legend Bill Russell followed suit in 1960-61 and went on to do it a grand total of four times. Only Chicago Bulls icon Michael Jordan has matched Russell when it comes to such seasons.

Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry is the most recent player to achieve the rare feat. In his illustrious career, Curry has won four NBA titles and two regular season MVP awards, but the 2014–15 season was the only one in which he scored both trophies.

Here’s a full breakdown of the players to win a championship and be named regular season MVP in the same season:

• Bob Cousy (1956-57)

• Bill Russell (1960-61, 1961-62, 1962-63, 1964-65)

• Wilt Chamberlain (1966-67)

• Willis Reed (1969-70)

• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1970-71, 1979-80)

• Moses Malone (1982-83)

• Larry Bird (1983-84, 1985-86)

• Magic Johnson (1986-87)

• Michael Jordan (1990-91, 1991-92, 1995-96, 1997-98)

• Hakeem Olajuwon (1993-94)

• Shaquille O’Neal (1999-00)

• Tim Duncan (2002-03)

• LeBron James (2011-12, 2012-13)

• Steph Curry (2014-15)

For Gilgeous-Alexander to join the elite company of Hall of Famers, the top-seeded Thunder will need to defeat the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals, which begin Thursday in Oklahoma City. 

It’s the first postseason meeting between the two franchises. The Thunder enter looking for the franchise’s first title in its Oklahoma City era and first since the former Seattle SuperSonics won it all back in 1979. Indiana similarly heads into the Finals looking to snap a lengthy championship drought. Indiana hasn't raised a title banner since Bobby "Slick" Leonard led them to three ABA championships in four years between 1970 and 1973, before the ABA-NBA merger.