After winning an MVP award and leading the Oklahoma City Thunder on an incredible championship run, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been recognized by his home country, being given the Northern Star Award. This award is given to the best athlete in Canada each year.
Gilgeous-Alexander is the first Canadian since 2017 (Joey Votto) to win the award twice, having also received it in 2023. The only other Canadian basketball player to win the award was Steve Nash who did so once, winning in 2005. No one has won the award more times than Wayne Gretzky, who earned the honor four times in his playing career.
In that MVP season, Gilgeous-Alexander led the league in scoring with 32.7 points per game to go along with 6.4 assists, five rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1 block.
In the finals, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 30.3 points, 5.6 assists and 4.6 rebounds en route to a NBA Finals MVP award.
Since then, the Thunder have started the 2025-26 season off on a historic tear. Oklahoma City is now 23-1, winners of their last 14 consecutive games. All the while, Gilgeous-Alexander has averaged 32.8 points, 6.4 assists and 4.7 rebounds.
If the Thunder win another title again in 2026 or break the record for most wins in a season, there's a good chance that Gilgeous-Alexander could win a third Nothern Star award, cementing himself amongst the greatest of Canadian athletes.
SGA and the Thunder will return to action Wednesday in the NBA Cup quarterfinals.
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