Between winning both his first MVP and NBA championship, the 2024-25 campaign was a fairytale season for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander—but it didn’t always feel like one to the Thunder star, especially during their postseason run.

The Thunder dominated the regular season last year, going a league-best 68-14 en route to earning the No. 1 season in the West while Gilgeous-Alexander led the league in scoring with an average of 32.7 points per game. Though Gilgeous-Alexander went on to average 29.9 points per game through the postseason, he felt that he and the Thunder did not play as well as they did in the regular season during their playoff run.

“Honestly speaking, I didn’t like the way we won, if that makes sense,” said Gilgeous-Alexander. “I didn’t think we won an NBA championship playing our best basketball. That was the first time we’d been that far in the playoffs, so it was a learning experience for us. But it takes another level of focus, discipline, assertiveness, aggression, to be who we were in the regular season, and do that throughout the postseason.

Shai on if he’s thought about how he and the team will approach this season and avoid complacency:

“I didn’t like the way we won, if that makes sense… I didn’t think we won an NBA championship playing our best basketball.”

What an answer.pic.twitter.com/8VZowZlNx8

— Thunder Film Room (@ThunderFilmRoom) November 8, 2025

“We were definitely more dominant in the regular season than the postseason,” Gilgeous-Alexander continued. “So yeah, that was the biggest thing for me. And for me, as well—as a player, I don’t think I was as good in the postseason as I was in the regular season. Now, it naturally happens when you play a team seven times in a row, and they get to scout [you] seven times in a row. But I feel like I could have been better, so I try to control that.”

Gilgeous-Alexander wasn’t necessarily as dominant in the postseason compared to the regular season, but that’s not surprising when the Thunder were facing the same opponent multiple times in a row and facing a higher level of competition in every game. It did take the Thunder seven games to defeat the Nuggets and Pacers during their postseason run, but both were great teams and worthy competition for Oklahoma City. Even so, the Thunder came out on top and were deserving of winning a title.

If anything, this simply makes Gilgeous-Alexander’s mentality clear as the Thunder traverse through their first season following a championship win. With this mindset, they seem far from willing to settle or just be satisfied with one title win. Gilgeous-Alexander feels he can play better, and certainly wants to prove that going forward. This is reflected on the court too, where the Thunder are leading the West with a 9-1 record while Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 33 points, five rebounds and six assists per game.

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