Bintang Oklahoma City Thunder Shai Gilgeous-Alexander resmi memenangkan penghargaan Kia MVP NBA untuk musim reguler 2025/2026 pada Minggu, 18 Mei 2026.
Pencapaian tersebut menempatkan pebasket asal Kanada itu ke dalam kelompok elit sebagai salah satu dari 14 pemain yang mampu meraih gelar MVP dalam dua musim berturut-turut.
Penghargaan ini sekaligus memperpanjang dominasi pemain internasional yang memenangkan MVP selama delapan musim beruntun sejak 2019, sementara James Harden menjadi pemain kelahiran Amerika Serikat terakhir yang meraihnya pada 2018.
Dalam konferensi pers yang dihadiri manajemen tim, pelatih Mark Daigneault, serta keluarga, Gilgeous-Alexander juga memberikan hadiah mantel Burberry dan jam tangan Audemars Piguet senilai sekitar 40 ribu dolar AS per orang kepada rekan-rekan setimnya yang berada di atas panggung.
"The inner circle is something people forget about," kata Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, pemain Oklahoma City Thunder.
Pebasket berusia 27 tahun itu menyatakan bahwa dukungan dari orang-orang terdekat membuat penampilannya di lapangan terasa lebih mudah.
"I get all the praise and people forget, I’m on the court for 2 1/2 hours every night and the rest of my days, you guys make my life seem this easy." kata Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, pemain Oklahoma City Thunder.
Keberhasilan program, fasilitas, kepemilikan klub, hingga jajaran manajemen di Oklahoma City dinilai menjadi faktor utama yang melahirkan kesuksesan tersebut.
"There’s a reason why you have success when you come through this program in this facility and this city," ujar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, pemain Oklahoma City Thunder.
Dia merasa beruntung bisa berada di organisasi yang menerapkan standar bola basket secara tepat dan selalu memberikan dukungan penuh.
"Everything I just mentioned from the fans, the love they give, to the ownership, the front office, making things easy, making sure we’re getting our work in. The coach is playing the right brand of basketball, holding the right things accountable. The way things are in this organization, in this city, it breeds success and it’s no coincidence. I’m just lucky to end up here." cetus Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, pemain Oklahoma City Thunder.
Pada musim 2025/2026, Gilgeous-Alexander mencatatkan rata-rata 31,1 poin per pertandingan dan akurasi tembakan 55,3 persen, sekaligus membawa Thunder meraih 64 kemenangan dan menjadi unggulan pertama Wilayah Barat.
"I’m not really after the success," ucap Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, pemain Oklahoma City Thunder.
Dirinya menegaskan bahwa kerja keras yang dia lakukan adalah bentuk penghormatan bagi pengorbanan orang-orang di sekitarnya.
"There so many people in my life that sacrifice for me to just play this game that I love and I would be doing them a disservice if I didn’t give it my all. And that’s really what it’s about – making sure that when I’m done and I hang these shoes up that I give everything I have to the game. Then, whatever that looks like for me, I’ll live with. I’ll be more than pleased with what I got out of it." sambung Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, pemain Oklahoma City Thunder.
Bagi Gilgeous-Alexander, segala bentuk pujian dan statistik di media sosial bukanlah tujuan utama dalam karier bola basketnya.
"But none of the accolades and the points and all this stuff that’s cool on social media, none of that is what I’m after. I’m just after making sure that while I’m doing this thing, I give it my all and I’m not wasting nobody’s time." tambah Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, pemain Oklahoma City Thunder.
Persaingan di NBA diakui semakin berat karena tim-tim lawan sudah semakin akrab dengan gaya permainan Oklahoma City Thunder.
"Naturally, teams and players in NBA get better and then naturally, people get more familiar with your game, more familiar with your team, how you play," tutur Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, pemain Oklahoma City Thunder.
Kondisi tersebut menuntut fokus yang lebih tinggi pada pengembangan kemampuan diri dan tim secara keseluruhan.
"So the league just got better like it always does. And then you just have a bigger target on your back as a competitor and guys in NBA really compete." jelas Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, pemain Oklahoma City Thunder.
Menurut laporan Justin Martinez dari The Oklahoman, Gilgeous-Alexander yang merupakan rekrutan ke-11 pada draf 2018 menjadi guard kelima dalam sejarah NBA yang meraih MVP beruntun.
"There are so many people in my life who sacrificed for me to just play this game I love," sebut Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, pemain Oklahoma City Thunder.
Komitmennya adalah memberikan segalanya untuk permainan bola basket sebelum memutuskan pensiun nanti.
"I would be doing them a disservice if I didn’t give it my all, and that’s really what it’s about. I’m making sure when I’m done and I hang these shoes up that I gave everything I had to the game. Whatever that looks like for me, I’ll live with. I’ll be more than pleased with what I got out of it." urai Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, pemain Oklahoma City Thunder.
Dia kembali menegaskan bahwa pencapaian angka atau popularitas di media sosial tidak menjadi target utamanya.
"But the accolades and points and all of the stuff that’s cool on social media, none of that is what I’m after. I’m just making sure that while I’m doing this thing I’m giving it my all and I’m not wasting anybody’s time." kata Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, pemain Oklahoma City Thunder.
Gilgeous-Alexander kemudian menyampaikan rasa terima kasih secara langsung kepada rekan-rekan setimnya atas semua kontribusi mereka di lapangan.
"Thank you guys so much," ucap Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, pemain Oklahoma City Thunder.
Dia menyadari bahwa tanpa kemenangan tim, dirinya tidak akan pernah masuk ke dalam diskusi pencalonan MVP.
"From setting screens to rebounding when I miss to passing me the ball even though I don’t pass you the ball, everything you guys do to make me a better player out there, I really appreciate you guys. Basketball is obviously a team sport. All of the numbers, all of the accolades and everything I do on the court, if we won 10 games, I wouldn’t be in this conversation. So thank you guys so much. I love you guys." papar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, pemain Oklahoma City Thunder.
Setelah perayaan penghargaan tersebut, sang kapten langsung mengalihkan fokus tim menghadapi babak final wilayah.
" We have a lot more work to do, " tegas Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, pemain Oklahoma City Thunder.
Dia meminta rekan-rekannya untuk segera bersiap kembali berlatih demi menghadapi pertandingan berikutnya.
" So after tonight, get back to work ." instruksi Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, pemain Oklahoma City Thunder.
Di sisi lain, pelatih Mark Daigneault memberikan pujian khusus kepada Chet Holmgren yang dinilai tampil sebagai MVP bagi Oklahoma City selama dua putaran pertama babak playoff.
" It just seems like he’s around the basket more ," kata Mark Daigneault, pelatih Oklahoma City Thunder.
Fleksibilitas permainan Holmgren baik di area perimeter maupun di bawah ring memberikan banyak opsi strategi bagi tim.
" He’s finding more cracks, we’re finding him more … His decisiveness on the perimeter over time has smoothed. His shot-drive reads. His ability to move (the ball) quickly. And then we’ve talked about this a lot, but his versatility defensively. His ability to be impactful at the five, at the rim and also on the perimeter has unlocked a lot of options for us. The list is long, but it should be for a guy that’s as impactful as he is ." beber Mark Daigneault, pelatih Oklahoma City Thunder.
Sementara itu, bocornya informasi pemenang MVP ke publik sebelum pengumuman resmi memicu kritik keras dari pemain Golden State Warriors, Draymond Green.
"Like, it makes our league look like we have no organization. It makes our league look like it just makes it look that’s child’s play. Like we can’t hold the winner of the most prestigious individual award in the NBA. We can’t hold those results until like it’s actually time to be announced. That was a little disappointing. Like there’s no way that can happen. Like if they’re supposed to be an announcement on Amazon Prime, like the announcement has to happen on Amazon Prime. Like this is something commissioner Silver has to do something about. Like this can’t happen." kecam Draymond Green, pemain Golden State Warriors.
Sesuai jadwal, Oklahoma City Thunder akan bertindak sebagai tuan rumah menjamu San Antonio Spurs pada Senin untuk melakoni Game 1 babak final Wilayah Barat.
