Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's WCF Run was a Career Peak, For Now

Sporting a 2025 NBA Finals hat over his blue headband, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander relished the moment as he hoisted the Magic Johnson Western Conference Finals MVP trophy above his head in front of a boisterous Oklahoma City crowd Wednesday night.

The Thunder secured its first NBA Finals in 13 seasons. Gilgeous-Alexander — the frontman of Oklahoma City's new era — led his team with 34 points, seven rebounds and eight assists to take a 4-1 series win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Through years of frustrating playoff exits, departures of star players and rebuilding, the Thunder is back in the promise land. Paycom Center hadn't seen these heights in quite some time.

“I wanted the fans to be able to enjoy the moment with us ... to be able to celebrate it in our building," Gilgeous-Alexander said following Game 5. "Above all, I wanted to give my energy and my effort to give these fans what they deserve.”

Gilgeous-Alexander might've received some criticism in previous playoff outings, but he defied those in stride on the biggest stage of his young career. In the five games it took Oklahoma City to beat Minnesota, the guard put up 31.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game — even with a 14-point Game 3 in the Thunder's only loss.

Bringing Oklahoma City to 68 regular season wins and receiving the 2025 MVP award did enough to establish Gilgeous-Alexander as quite possibly the best player in the league, this just took it up a notch. He's at the peak of his powers, and the Thunder is currently reaping the benefits.

This isn't as far as where Gilgeous-Alexander or Oklahoma City want to be, though. It has a final seven-game series ahead of it — against either the Indiana Pacers or New York Knicks — giving it a chance to bring the franchise its first Larry O'Brien trophy.

This might be Gilgeous-Alexander's current peak, but he doesn't want it to end there.

“This isn’t our goal," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "We didn’t start the season like, ‘we want to win the West.’ We want to win a championship. Still four more really hard games to win.”

The Thunder had to battle adversity to get here. Its first real playoff run a year ago ended in disappointment against the Dallas Mavericks in the second round, and the Denver Nuggets brought back that fear this run. On top of that, its learned all of this as one of the NBA's youngest teams.

Oklahoma City is an anomaly. Gilgeous-Alexander, in a way, is equally an anomaly. But, it hasn't prevented it from becoming the reigning champions of the West and the favorite against either team out of the East.

If Gilgeous-Alexander can carry his production through an NBA Finals win, he'll form a new peak rather quickly. As impossible as it might've seemed to say this a couple of years ago: he might become the greatest Thunder player ever.

That legacy still has many more years to shape up, even if it doesn't happen to be Oklahoma City's time just yet.