A few months ago, there was a legitimate chance that OKC Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could become just the second player in league history to unanimously win the prestigious NBA MVP award this season.
However, with the ridiculous triple-double averages of Nikola Jokic and the rise of Victor Wembanyama, it seems that such a historic outcome is a mere pipe dream at this point.
With that being said, there's still a chance that the Oklahoma City cornerstone could walk away from this year's campaign with an uncontested win in a major award race.
On Sunday, it was announced that, in addition to MVP, Gilgeous-Alexander has placed as a top-three finalist for KIA NBA Clutch Player of the Year, alongside Minnesota's Anthony Edwards and Denver's Jamal Murray.
While the latter two certainly have shined bright in crunch time this year, and deserve ample praise for their production when the game has been on the line, objectively speaking this award should already be considered locked-up by Shai.
Thunder star has easily been the most clutch player in NBA this year
Clutch time in the NBA is defined as the last five minutes of the fourth quarter or any overtime period when the point differential is within five or fewer points.
Though the Thunder generally found themselves breezing past their competition throughout the regular season en route to a league-best 64 wins and a plus-11.1 points differential, the club surprisingly registered the 12-most minutes spent in such situations.
Fortunately for them, they had the reigning MVP to help guide them to an elite 70.6 winning percentage (second-best in the NBA).
Despite sitting out roughly 30 percent of fourth quarters here in 2025-26, Gilgeous-Alexander still somehow managed to lead the entire league in both clutch points per game and total clutch points recorded with 6.5 and 175, respectively, while boasting a ridiculous true shooting percentage of 66.8 under these circumstances.
Edwards recorded 5.6 clutch points per game and 135 total clutch points, while Murray rang in with 4.4 and 166, respectively.
From the efficiency and surface-level counting stats to the ultimate team success rate, among this trio of finalists, there really doesn't seem to be much of a debate when it comes to who is most deserving of being anointed the game's newest CPOY.
Though he may finish with some close challengers for MVP, Gilgeous-Alexander earning unanimous status for a major end-of-season honor is still very much a real possibility.
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