Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Joins Elite OKC Thunder MVP Company

In terms of pure superstardom, not many NBA teams have stacked up the Oklahoma City Thunder in the last decade-plus.

First, it was Kevin Durant who took home the Most Valuable Player award in 2014. A year after he left the franchise, Russell Westbrook won the MVP in 2017. Now eight years removed from that, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the league's newest MVP.

While it never amounted to a championship, Oklahoma City having two first-ballot Hall of Famers together as long as it did was impressive enough. Even as one of the smallest markets in the NBA, it managed to smartly acquire talent through the draft.

Gilgeous-Alexander's case was different. After Paul George asked out of the franchise in 2019, the guard was part of an immense package that the Thunder received from the L.A. Clippers. Since then, he's blossomed into a true No. 1 option.

To be in the same conversation as those two players is "amazing" for Gilgeous-Alexander.

"Any conversation when it's between me and those two guys, guys who get this award, it's hard to even wrap your head around," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "Those guys have done amazing things for the game, changed the game in ways you couldn't see coming ... I can't chalk it up to anyting else than besides just a kid dreaming and working and seeing where it takes you."

The same way it was for both Durant and Westbrook, applies to Gilgeous-Alexander as equally. The high aspirations, goals set and dreams of greatness have all paid off with the biggest accomplishment an individual player can receive.

Gilgeous-Alexander has a chance to do something as an MVP for Oklahoma City that his predecessors couldn't: win an NBA Finals. That starts with getting past the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals, before it would get a look at either the New York Knicks or Indiana Pacers.

If one thing's for certain, Gilgeous-Alexander has placed himself in the same breath as the greats before. It's his opportunity to take himself even further.