Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Has Chance to Steal Thunder GOAT Title from Russell Westbrook
May 24, 2025
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All-NBA First Team Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the newly crowned MVP for the 2024-25 season, has been setting the league on fire throughout the playoffs thus far.
Following a remarkable 68-win regular season, the 6-foot-6 superstar has led his club back to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in nine years. Currently pacing the Minnesota Timberwolves 2-0, the Thunder stand just two wins shy of advancing to their first NBA Finals appearance since 2012, when the club was led by future league MVPs Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2 of the Oklahoma City Thunder gestures to the crowd during the second half of game seven of the Western Conference semifinals against the Denver Nuggets at Paycom Center on May 18, 2025… Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2 of the Oklahoma City Thunder gestures to the crowd during the second half of game seven of the Western Conference semifinals against the Denver Nuggets at Paycom Center on May 18, 2025 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Photo by Joshua Gateley/Getty Images
To hear one longtime NBA forward tell it, Gilgeous-Alexander’s remarkable playoff run could cement his place in franchise history.
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During a recent episode of his FanDuel TV series “Run It Back,” Chandler Parsons suggested that the three-time All-Star was on the cusp of dethroning Durant or Westbrook as the Thunder’s unquestioned all-time top dog.
“It’s hard not to think that this dude is the greatest Thunder of all-time,” Parsons said. “As good as Russ was with the MVP, triple-doubles, and Kevin Durant, and James Harden, like this guy’s a different level when you win a championship. Especially in this city and this market. Like he will mean everything to the,m and like I said, it’s going to be multiple.”
Durant may be the best player historically to ever done an Oklahoma City jersey as of this writing, but his felt the club in controversial fashion with a 2016 free agent departure to the Golden State Warriors after nine title-less seasons.
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The 15-time All-Star power forward, now 36, instantly went to three straight NBA Finals with Golden State, winning a pair of championships and Finals MVP for his efforts.
Although Durant was unquestionably the better Thunder player during his stint with Westbrook and Harden, Westbrook had the longer run, playing in Oklahoma City through close to the tail end of his athletic prime.
Eight of Westbrook’s nine All-Star seasons were logged with the Thunder, as were eight of his nine All-NBA Team accolades. Westbrook was never the defender nor shooter Durant was, though at his absolute peak, he was a sheer athletic supernova, as Parsons alludes to.
Gilgeous-Alexander has been absolute bucket for the Thunder. He’s averaging 29.8 points on .475/.281/.848 shooting splits, 6.7 assists, 5.6 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 0.6 blocks across 13 contests, in which Oklahoma City has gone 10-3.
Would a Gilgeous-Alexander title and Finals MVP instantly make him the best Thunder player ever? The question isn’t about who the best player is to have suited up for the Thunder — that is Durant, until further notice. But neither Durant nor Westbrook, both of whom did earn their lone MVP awards in Oklahoma City, ever won a title for the franchise.
Will that be enough to put Gilgeous-Alexander over the top, or must he log a few more seasons at this level to officially snatch the accolade from Westbrook (probably the fans’ current “Thunder GOAT” pick, after playing there from 2008-19 at such a high level) or Durant (again, the better of the two players during their shared tenures in town)?
More Oklahoma City Thunder News:
LeBron James Comments on Nuggets-Thunder Game 7
Western Conference Finals Viewership Drops to Lowest Point in Over 10 Years
Thunder Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Wins First Ever MVP Award, Beats Out Nikola Jokic
Magic Johnson Reveals NBA Finals Prediction Without Hesitation
For more Oklahoma City Thunder and general NBA news and rumors, head on over to Newsweek Sports.
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