Gilgeous-Alexander was named The Canadian Press’s Male Athlete of the Year on Saturday in balloting by editors, writers and broadcasters from across the country, easily winning the award for the second time in his career.
The Hamilton native earned the honour after winning the NBA MVP, the NBA Finals MVP, the league’s scoring title, and leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to their second championship in franchise history and first since 1979, when they were the Seattle SuperSonics.
“It’s not really even debatable as to whether he’s one of the best players in the world. I mean, there’s zero debate now,” said Rowan Barrett, the general manager of Canada’s men’s national basketball team. “You could not like his game. You could not like his team.
“You could not like whatever but, objectively, how can you create an argument that he’s not one of the best players in the world.”
Gilgeous-Alexander got 89.3 per cent of the votes, with Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who was born in Montreal but plays for the Dominican Republic internationally, finishing second. Tennis player Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal and race walker Evan Dunfee of Richmond, B.C., also earned votes.
Nicknamed SGA, Gilgeous-Alexander was also CP’s Male Athlete of the Year in 2023 after leading Canada to its first-ever medal at the FIBA World Cup, and qualifying for the Summer Olympics for the first time in 24 years. He’s one of 17 athletes to win the award twice, including hockey legends Bobby Hull, Phil Esposito, and Mario Lemieux as well as tennis star Milos Raonic. The only other basketball player to win the award is Hall of Famer Steve Nash, who did so three times.
The six-foot-six Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 32.7 points, 6.4 assists, five rebounds, 1.7 steals and one block per game last season. Oklahoma City had the best regular-season record in the NBA’s Western Conference and dispatched the Memphis Grizzlies, Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves on its way to the NBA Finals.
“He puts pressure on the defence every time he comes down the floor. He has a lot of gravity. His usage rate is very, very high,” said Raptors forward Brandon Ingram. “He has a game where you can’t necessarily touch him. He can get to the mid range. He gets all the way to the rim, and he’s shooting better from the three, so he can do a lot of stuff on the floor.
“He’s a leader. He’s the leader of that team.”
Gilgeous-Alexander had a double-double in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, scoring 29 points and adding 12 assists as the Thunder beat the Indiana Pacers 103-91 for their first championship.
He and Nash (2005, 2006) are the only Canadians to win NBA MVP honours. Gilgeous-Alexander is also one of only four NBA players to be named MVP and Finals MVP in the same season, joining Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, and Shaquille O’Neal to accomplish the feat.
“To be just the second Canadian to win NBA MVP is one thing, but to win the NBA title and Finals MVP (oh, and scoring title!), puts him in Hall of Fame company,” said Signa Butler of CBC Sports on her ballot. “From humble beginnings to one of the world’s best players shows the power of hard work and belief.”
Voters were also impressed by Gilgeous-Alexander’s continued success as OKC won the title in June but the Thunder continue to roll this season with a 26-5 record,
He’s putting up MVP-calibre numbers again in the 2025-26 campaign, averaging 32.1 points, 6.5 assists, 4.9 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 0.8 blocks per game.
“The fact he was the best player in the world not only in the early portion of 2025 calendar year, but that he and the Thunder haven’t slowed down to end 2025,” said Jamie Nye of Rawlco Radio in Regina in his reasons for voting for Gilgeous-Alexander.
Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic said that Gilgeous-Alexander is about so much more than stats or on-court performance.
“He’s an amazing human being,” said Rajakovic. “We played a game in OKC (last year), and it was impressive to see him after his warm up on the court, there’s probably like 2,000 people waiting over there, and he spends anywhere between 30 and 45 minutes to sign all of the autographs that are asked of him.
“You don’t see that every day, and not just what he does on the court, what he does off the court, what kind of person he is.”
Barrett, who has known Gilgeous-Alexander for most of his life, said that that’s the kind of person the 27-year-old is.
“Those things come from a genuine place,” said Barrett. “I think Shai really does get it. He really does understand he’s in a very, very special place and he’s loved by many, adored by many, and he takes on that responsibility very seriously.”
Gilgeous-Alexander’s MVP-calibre year and how he conducts himself off the court has also earned the respect of his fellow NBA players.
“Every year he’s just gotten better and better,” said Boston Celtics guard Derrick White. “That’s a testament to who he is as a person and the work he puts in.
“Obviously OKC had a really good team and won the championship. MVP, Finals MVP, he did it all. Congratulations to him.”
