OKLAHOMA CITY — Just 31 games into the 2022-23 NBA season, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been making a strong case for MVP.
The Toronto native began turning heads early in his college basketball career at the University of Kentucky, where he played for one season before declaring for the NBA Draft in 2018. He was selected 11th overall by the Charlotte Hornets but was quickly traded to the Los Angeles Clippers on draft night.
In his rookie season with the Clippers, Gilgeous-Alexander showed promise as a versatile player who could contribute on both ends of the court. He averaged 10.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.
On July 6th of 2019, after just one season with the Clippers, Gilgeous-Alexander was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder along with Danilo Gallinari, four future unprotected first-round picks, one protected future first-round pick, and the right to swap future picks with the Clippers twice in exchange for Paul George. In his first season with the Thunder, he took on a leadership role and became one of the team’s top scorers, averaging 19 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. Since then, he has gotten exponentially better and has become one of the top players in the NBA
At just 24 years old, Gilgeous-Alexander is currently averaging 31.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 1.7 steals per game, his best season to date. The superstar has been lighting it up all season, scoring a career-high 42 points against the Mavericks just seven days ago. He continued his strong showing tonight with a 35-point and 6-rebound performance which included a game-winning buzzer-beater. The tight 123-121 win by the now 13-18 Thunder will hopefully give them some momentum to tally up some more wins before the new year.
