It was officially announced on Sunday that OKC Thunder cornerstone Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been crowned the 2026 NBA Most Valuable Player, marking the second time he's taken home such an honor in two years.
With this, co-star Jalen Williams is now advocating for significant change when it comes to his running mate's league-wide and, frankly, all-time perception.
At least, that's what he seems to be doing on social media, where, in a reactionary Instagram story, he posted Slam's announcement of Gilgeous-Alexander winning MVP, along with a personally crafted comment that reads, "there's gonna be some uncomfortable convos yall gotta have..."
Throughout their tenure as teammates, Williams has proven to be one of SGA's biggest hype men.
From describing him as "a bad man" on the hardwood to his straightforward "watch the games" pleas when advocating for Shai's previous MVP runs, J-Dub is quite an outspoken supporter of Gilgeous-Alexander.
And just like his past comments, it's undeniable that Williams is once again right when it comes to his recent post on the 27-year-old.
Thunder cornerstone is in rare company with 2026 MVP season
Though winning MVP is certainly impressive on its own, Gilgeous-Alexander's 2025-26 campaign has far more to gush over than just the game's highest regular season individual accolade.
Through 68 games played, the Thunder star managed to piece together the most efficient 30-plus point-per-game scoring season in league history from an overall field goal percentage standpoint, dropping 31.4 a night on 55.3 percent shooting from the floor.
He would also surpass the great Wilt Chamberlain for the most consecutive 20-plus point games with 140 and counting.
Along with all of this, he finished with a career-high in assists with 6.6 and offensive rating at 133, per Basketball Reference, and led Oklahoma City to finishing with the best record in the league (64-18) for a third-straight season.
Gilgeous-Alexander now becomes just the 14 player ever to win two-straight MVP awards, the fifth guard to win multiple MVPs, and just the third back-to-back recipient to average 30 or more points in both seasons.
Now, with just eight more wins standing between the Thunder and a second title in two years, Shai has the very realistic opportunity to join LeBron James and Michael Jordan as the only players to win league MVP, an NBA Championship, and Finals MVP in consecutive seasons.
With all of this in mind, it's undeniable that, in just his eighth season, Gilgeous-Alexander has confidently placed himself into the discussion as one of the game's all-time greats.
Perhaps the scariest part of all: He's still technically only in the middle stages of his prime.
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