Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Could Join These 3 All-Time NBA Greats With Historic Season

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander walked off the Gainbridge Fieldhouse court Wednesday night in an unusual situation. The Oklahoma City Thunder point guard had a career playoffs-high six turnovers in his team’s 116-107 loss to the Indiana Pacers in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. The Thunder, the heavy favorite entering the series, are now down two games to one heading into Friday’s Game 4 in Indianapolis. It is just the fifth time all season they have lost two of three games.

Still, one of those occasions occurred in the Western Conference semifinals when the Thunder lost to the Denver Nuggets in overtime in Game 3 before winning Game 4 on the road to even the series and clinching it with a Game 7 victory at home. As such, it is hard to count out the Thunder and Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning Most Valuable Player who could have a historic season if the Thunder win the title.

If Gilgeous-Alexander is named the Finals MVP, he will become only the fourth player in history to lead the league in scoring during the regular season, be part of a championship team and win the regular season and Finals MVP awards in the same season.

The others? Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1971), Michael Jordan (1991, 1992, 1996 and 1998) and Shaquille O’Neal (2000). Heady company, indeed. All three are Hall of Famers and all-time greats.

Abdul-Jabbar was a six-time regular season MVP, six-time NBA champion and second with 38,387 career points. Jordan was a five-time regular season and six-time NBA Finals MVP and champion and first with 30.1 points per game during his career. And O’Neal was a four-time NBA champion and three-time Finals MVP who averaged 23.7 points and 10.9 rebounds per game in his 19-year career.

Gilgeous-Alexander, who turns 27 next month, would be the second-youngest of the four to achieve the feat of regular season and Finals MVP, NBA champion and scoring title in the same season. Abdul-Jabbar was 24 and in his second season, while Jordan was 28 and in his seventh season when he accomplished it the first time and O’Neal was 28 and in his eighth season.

Gilgeous-Alexander, meanwhile, is in his seventh season and much less heralded than the men he’s trying to join. Abdul-Jabbar had led UCLA to three consecutive national titles and was a three-time national college of the player and third in the MVP voting as a rookie before having his breakout in the 1970-71 season. Jordan had already won an MVP and had four consecutive scoring titles before breaking through in 1991. And O’Neal was a perennial MVP candidate and one-time scoring champion before the 1999-2000 season.

After averaging 10.8 points per game as a rookie with the Los Angeles Clippers, Gilgeous-Alexander was traded to the Thunder as part of the deal that sent Paul George to the Clippers. At the time, Gilgeous-Alexander was seen as a promising guard but not someone who could win an MVP someday. Still, he has continued to improve each season, finishing fifth in the MVP voting in 2023 and second last year before winning the award this season.

During the regular season, Gilgeous-Alexander led the league with 32.7 points per game and helped the Thunder finish with a 68-14 record, 16 more wins than any other Western Conference team. The Thunder outscored teams by an average of 12.9 points per game during the regular season, breaking a record that had stood since the 1971-72 season when the Los Angeles Lakers had a 12.3 points per game scoring differential.

Oklahoma City entered the postseason as the title favorite and has looked the part for much of the playoffs. The Thunder swept the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round, dominated the Nuggets by 32 points in Game 7 of the second round and knocked off the Minnesota Timberwolves in the conference finals.

Still, the Thunder blew a 15-point fourth quarter lead in Game 1 against the Pacers and lost again on Wednesday night, putting themselves in a hole. As has been the case all season, the Thunder on Friday will turn to Gilgeous-Alexander, who is averaging 30.1 points, 6.6 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game in the playoffs. If he can come through and deliver OKC a championship, Gilgeous-Alexander will start to hear his name mentioned with the all-time greats.