Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the MVP of the NBA regular season

For the third time in history a Canadian has been nimonated MVP of the NBA regular season. The only player from the country of the maple leaf to receive this honor had been Steve Nash, even twice, in 2005 and 2006, when he defended the colors of the Phoenx Suns.

This time the nomination went to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 26-year-old d Toronto guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder, who this year, averaging 32.7 points per game (season’s best scorer) with 51.9 percent from the field, 5.0 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 1.7 stolen balls has dragged his team to overachieving in the Western Conference standings with an impressive 68 wins out of 82 games and, for now, to the playoff finals in the West against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“I didn’t think it could really happen. I dreamed about it as a kid, but it seemed like an unattainable dream. I just tried to work hard, day in and day out. And that’s what got me here,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, who in the final head-to-head matchup beat by 71 votes to 29 Nikola Jokic, the Denver Nuggets’ Serbian center who won this award in 2021, 2023, and 2024.

They are all in the same league.