Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been voted the NBA Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive season, ESPN reported Sunday morning.
The official announcement of the winner is set to come at Sunday at 7.30pm.
Gilgeous-Alexander will become the 14th player in league history to win back-to-back MVPs. He will be the first since Nikola Jokić in 2020-21 and 2021-22 and the first guard to win consecutive MVPs since Stephen Curry in 2014-15 and 2015-16.
Every retired player who won back-to-back MVPs during their playing career went on to be enshrined in basketball’s hall of fame.
Signed to a four-year, $273.3m super maximum contract extension in the offseason, the Canadian averaged 31.1 points, 6.6 assists and 4.3 rebounds in 68 regular-season games this season.
The 27-year-old is averaging 25.3 points, 5.3 assists and 4.7 boards in 530 career games (521 starts) with the Los Angeles Clippers (2018-19) and Thunder.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s award will extend a streak of players born outside the US winning MVP. The last US-born player to win the award was James Harden in 2018.
The guard led the Thunder to their first NBA championship last year. Aiming for back-to-back titles, Oklahoma City will open play in the Western Conference final on Monday against the San Antonio Spurs.