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<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could join Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Larry Bird with back-to-back-to-back NBA MVPs this season.<\/p>\n
Bill Russell. Wilt Chamberlain. Larry Bird.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the full list of those who managed to win three consecutive NBA Most Valuable Player awards<\/a>. Nobody has pulled off that feat in 40 years, and the star power not on that list \u2014 names like Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar \u2014 speaks to how difficult it is to accomplish.<\/p>\n Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder has a chance to get there this season, whether he wants to or not. His focus \u2014 as it has been in past years as well \u2014 is on winning and on championships, not on anything of the individual variety.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve just got to be the best player I can be for this basketball team, win as many games as possible,\u201d Gilgeous-Alexander said. \u201cThat kind of recipe for me in the past has kind of worked, and I\u2019ve been fortunate to win two in a row. No different for me going into this season.\u201d<\/p>\n He is the best player on the team that is essentially the co-favorite, along with the San Antonio Spurs, to win the NBA championship. He\u2019s collected more than 75% of the first-place MVP votes over the last two seasons, and his scoring average of 32 points per game is tops in the NBA over that span.<\/p>\n He doesn\u2019t think he\u2019s been at his peak yet, either.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like I\u2019m a better basketball player, more versatile as a basketball player,\u201d Gilgeous-Alexander said. \u201cIn better shape, too.\u201d<\/p>\n Thunder general manager Sam Presti has been around Hall of Fame players. He sees the traits in Gilgeous-Alexander, saying in his preseason news conference last month that greats at that level have \u201csomething that separates them from the others that makes them uniquely different.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe has the baseline stuff of his work ethic, his discipline, his character, things that you have to have to be a consistent elite performer in the NBA or anywhere,\u201d Presti said. \u201cBut his emotional awareness and regulation is superior, in my opinion. It\u2019s extraordinary. His view is layered. He doesn\u2019t live in a pass-fail world, and I think that\u2019s part of what\u2019s allowed him to come kind of from the back of the pack as a lightly recruited college player to this ascent.\u201d<\/p>\n The game has changed, and Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the players who has changed it.<\/p>\n International players have won the last eight MVP awards; if the annual polling of the league\u2019s general managers proves accurate, that run will go to nine this season \u2014 since the Spurs\u2019 Victor Wembanyama is their preseason pick<\/a> to emerge as the trophy winner next spring.<\/p>\n And with Joel Embiid \u2014 the No. 3 pick in 2014 and MVP in 2022-23 \u2014 being the exception, many of those eventual international-born MVPs weren\u2019t exactly expected by many to reach that level when they entered the league. Giannis Antetokounmpo, then of Milwaukee and now of Miami, was the No. 15 overall pick in the 2013 Draft<\/a>; he won two MVPs in this international run. Denver\u2019s Nikola Jokic was drafted No. 41 overall; he\u2019s a three-time MVP. Gilgeous-Alexander was drafted 11th<\/a>; he\u2019s now gone back-to-back.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s still going,\u201d Presti said. \u201cHe\u2019s got a lot more levels to go, and his mindset, I think, is the No. 1 thing that drives all that.\u201d<\/p>\n Winning brings individual success as well, and Gilgeous-Alexander knows that. But he often reminds people that things like MVP seasons come because so many people \u2014 not just the actual trophy winner \u2014 did their part.<\/p>\n If the Thunder are contenders again, he\u2019ll likely be a top candidate. The best player on the best teams tends to be right in the MVP mix. And if he wins it again, it\u2019ll be costly: Gilgeous-Alexander has showered teammates with thank-you gifts after his first two MVP seasons, including fancy watches, Burberry coats and much more.<\/p>\n Leadership, to Gilgeous-Alexander, is far more important than trophies.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s something that I\u2019ve been intentional with, but also just I think naturally it\u2019s just grown because I\u2019ve grown as a man,\u201d he said. \u201cBecoming a father has helped with that. You\u2019re an example for somebody every day and it\u2019s a little bit different in the real world, but it\u2019s essentially the same thing. You lead by example \u2014 and it\u2019s hard to get people to follow you if you don\u2019t do the right things and you don\u2019t walk the walk.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could join Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Larry Bird with back-to-back-to-back NBA MVPs this season. 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