Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts tagged as “Shai Gilgeous-Alexander”

Full list of ESPYS 2025 Award winner with Caitlin Clark bagging the Best WNBA Player

July 17, 2025

The 2025 ESPYS just concluded their presentation of the greatest athletes and moments in sports this year, and below are the winners. As a sport, basketball got the most awards this year, with 7 players taking home particular honors. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder received two awards: Best NBA Player and Best Athlete – Men’s Sports. On the women’s side, Caitlin Clark was awarded Best WNBA Player, while Cooper Flagg and JuJu Watkins bagged the Best College Athlete awards for male and female, respectively.

Then we have the legends of the sports, Diana Taurasi and former USWNT player Alex Morgan were honored with the prestigious Icon Award, while former NBA player Oscar Robertson received the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage.

Here’s the full list of winners of the 2025 ESPY Awards.

  • Best Championship Performance: Simone Biles, Olympic gymnastics all-around
  • Best Play: Saquon Barkley’s backwards hurdle
  • Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award: Sloane Stephens
  • Capital One Cup Winners: UNC women and Ohio State men
  • Jimmy V Award for Perseverance: Katie Schumacher-Cawley
  • Icon Award: Alex Morgan and Diana Taurasi

  • Pat Tillman Award for Service: Los Angeles County firefighters David Walters and Erin Regan
  • Gatorade Players of the Year: Jane Hedengren and Cameron Boozer
  • Best Comeback Athlete: Suni Lee, USA Gymnastics
  • Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award: Rishin Tandon, Maegha Ramanathan and Ian Waite
  • Arthur Ashe Award for Courage: Oscar Robertson
  • Best Athlete – Men’s Sports: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

  • Best Record-Breaking Performance: Alexander Ovechkin, NHL all-time goals leader
  • Best Team: Philadelphia Eagles, NFL
  • Best NBA Player: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
  • Best WNBA Player: Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever

  • Best College Athlete – Men’s Sports: Cooper Flagg, Duke men’s basketball
  • Best College Athlete – Women’s Sports: JuJu Watkins, USC women’s basketball
  • Best Athlete with a Disability: Noah Elliott, Para Snowboarding
  • Best NFL Player: Saquon Barkley, Philadelphia Eagles
  • Best MLB Player: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers
  • Best NHL Player: Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers
  • Best Driver: Max Verstappen, F1
  • Best UFC Fighter: Merab Dvalishvili
  • Best Boxer: Katie Taylor
  • Best Soccer Player: Christian Pulisic, AC Milan, USMNT
  • Best Golfer: Scottie Scheffler
  • Best Tennis Player: Coco Gauff

Oklahoma City Thunder are the 2025 NBA Champions

June 24, 2025

The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated an undermanned Indiana Pacers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy. Pacers are without their star Tyrese Haliburton who suffered a torn right Achilles tendon in the opening quarter of Game 7.

Even though the Pacers kept the game close in the first three quarters, it was apparent that the absence of Haliburton affected the team. In the final period of the game the Pacers were unable to score for four and a half minutes, by the time they made their first basket, OKC was already enjoying a 20-point lead with 7:29 remaining in the game.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander lead the team with 29 points, 5 rebounds and 12 assists, he’s also took home the Bill Russell trophy for winning the Finals MVP. Aside from winning both the Regular Season and Finals MVP awards, Shai is also this year’s Scoring Champion with 32.7 ppg. Before this season, the feat of winning the Regular Season MVP, Finals MVP, and scoring title in one season had only been achieved by four players in NBA history: Jordan (four times), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1971, and Shaquille O’Neal in 2000.

Shai got a lot of help from Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren who scored 20 points and 18 points, respectively. Five OKC players scored double digits points the includes Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace who scored 10 points, apiece.

Pacers Blow Out Thunder to Force winner takes all Game 7

June 20, 2025

The Indiana Pacers routed the OKC Thunder to force a Game 7 in the 2025 NBA Finals. The Pacers had a slow start, being down 2–10, but then went on a 26–15 run to close the 1st quarter with a 28–25 lead. In the second quarter, the Pacers tightened their defense by limiting the Thunder to just 17 points while scoring 36. The quarter was punctuated by a Haliburton steal and a no-look pass to Siakam, who posterized Jalen Williams with a jam.

It was a total team effort for the Pacers, with six players scoring in double figures. Tyrese Haliburton, who was playing with a strained calf aggravated in Game 5, had 14 points and 5 assists. Obi Toppin scored a team-high 20 points, with 4-of-7 from the 3-point line off the bench. Despite having the tough assignment of guarding league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, he was able to score 17 points and 4 assists. Pascal Siakam added 16 points and 13 rebounds.

The second half was no different from the first. The Pacers again limited OKC to just 18 points in the 3rd period while building a 30-point lead entering the 4th quarter. By the start of the 4th, OKC Head Coach Mark Daigneault took out most of his starting lineup. Even though they managed to score 31 points in the final period and limited the Pacers to just 18 points, the lead was too much for OKC to overcome.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led OKC with a modest 21 points, followed by Jalen Williams with 16 points, after scoring 40 points in Game 5.

Game Highlights

This will be the first Game 7 in the NBA Finals since 2016, and it will be in Oklahoma City this Sunday. History will be on OKC’s side, as home teams are 15-4 in Finals Game 7s, but the last team to win a Game 7 was the visiting team.

Oklahoma City Thunder win Game 5 of the 2025 NBA Finals (120 – 109)

June 17, 2025

The OKC Thunder are one win away from hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy, as they easily defeated an undermanned Indiana Pacers (120-109). OKC built a comfortable 18-point lead in the first half (56-38), but the Pacers slowly chipped away at the lead to trail by just two points (95-93) with 8:30 left in the game. However, the Pacers were not able to take the lead, as the Thunder went on a 25-16 run.

Jalen Williams scored a career playoff-high 40 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. League MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 31 points and 10 assists. OKC also got a lot of help from their bench players, with Aaron Wiggins and Cason Wallace adding 14 points and 11 points, respectively.

Tyrese Haliburton, who was playing with an ankle injury that he aggravated in the first quarter, was limited throughout the game. He failed to make a single field goal the whole game, with all of his 4 points coming from the free-throw line. Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 28 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists, while T.J. McConnell added 18 points and Aaron Nesmith had 14.

Game 6 will be in Indiana, and the Pacers will have one more chance to extend this to Game 7 and prevent OKC from celebrating on their home court.

Oklahoma City Thunder routs Minnesota Timberwolves to advance to the 2025 NBA Finals (124 – 94)

May 29, 2025

The Oklahoma City Thunder will advance to the 2025 NBA Finals waiting for the winner of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Knicks and Pacers. The OKC took control of the game early and ended it in the first half where the Thunder build a 33-point lead at the half. The last time OKC went to the NBA Finals was in the 2011–12 season, with a young Kevin Durant, James Harden and Russell Westbrook.

Recently crowned league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander lead OKC with 34 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists in just 34 mins of playtime. Chet Holmgren added 22 points, 7 rebounds with 3 blocks. Jalen Williams and Luguentz Dort added 19 points and 12 points, respectively. OKC need 4 more win to take home the Larry O’Brien trophy. The last time OKC went to the NBA Finals was in the 2011–12 season, with a young Kevin Durant, James Harden and Russell Westbrook.

Here are your 2024-25 All-NBA Team

May 25, 2025

NBA just announced the 1st, 2nd and 3rd All-NBA Team for 2024 – 2025 season.

All-NBA First Team

  • Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo
  • Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
  • Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić
  • Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell
  • Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum

All-NBA Second Team

  • New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson
  • Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry
  • Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards
  • Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James
  • Cavaliers forward-center Evan Mobley

All-NBA Third Team

  • Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham
  • Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton
  • LA Clippers guard James Harden
  • Knicks center-forward Karl-Anthony Towns
  • Thunder guard-forward Jalen Williams

The 2024-25 All-NBA Team voting results are below. The balloting was tabulated by the independent accounting firm Ernst & Young LLP.

ICYMI: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the 2024-25 NBA Most Valuable Player

May 25, 2025

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander basically bagged the MVP award when OKC defeated the Nuggets in the semis of the Western Conference Playoff.

From NBA.Com;

A seven-year veteran, Gilgeous-Alexander won the NBA scoring title for the first time. He became the first player to lead the league in games with at least 20 points (75), 30 points (49), 40 points (13) and 50 points (four) in a season since James Harden in 2018-19.

Gilgeous-Alexander’s only regular-season game with fewer than 20 points was an 18-point performance against the San Antonio Spurs on Oct. 30, 2024. He scored at least 20 points in each of his final 72 games, the longest streak at any point in a single season since 1963-64 (when Wilt Chamberlain recorded an 80-game streak and Oscar Robertson had a 76-game streak).

The 6-foot-6 Gilgeous-Alexander shot 51.9% from the field, a career-high 37.5% from three-point range and 89.8% from the free throw line (sixth in the NBA). He made an NBA-leading 601 free throws and a personal-best 163 three-pointers, 68 more threes than his previous career high of 95, set last season.

Gilgeous-Alexander joined Michael Jordan as the only players in NBA history to average at least 32.0 points and 6.0 assists per game and shoot 50.0% or better from the field in a season. Jordan accomplished the feat twice, in the 1988-89 and 1989-90 seasons.

OKC are currently 2-1 against the Minnesota Timberwolves and are the favorites to come out of the West and to win the Larry O’Brien this year. You can view the complete voting results here.

Curry-led Warriors move past Thunders in their Last Road Game (127 – 116)

November 11, 2024

Steph Curry led the Warriors as they took home the win for their final game of their 5-game road trip. Curry scored 36 points, with 7 of 13 from beyond the arc, 5 rebounds and 7 assists.

It was a bad night for the Thunders as their leading shot blocker Chet Holmgren suffered a right hip injury in first quarter when he fell after challenging Andrew Wiggins on a drive to the basket. Jonathan Kuminga scored 20 points, De’Anthony Melton added 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Andrew Wiggins has 18 points,8 rebounds and 5 assists for the Warriors.

Even though being down by as much as 30-points, OKC manage to climb back and cut the lead down to just 6 points on a streal and break away dunk by Alex Caruso with less than 5 mins left in the game. But the deficit was just too much for the Thunders as the Warriors took control of the game via Jonathan Kuminga makes alley oop dunk shot (from a Draymond Green assists, then another three-points by Curry to secure the win.

Shai Gilgeous Alexander lead the team with 24 points and 5 rebounds, followed by a 20-points performance by Jalen Williams.

The win will put the Warriors, Suns and OKC on a 3-way tie (7-2 standing )for the top team in the West,

The Warriors will return back home to host the Dallas this Tuesday night, while the Thunder host the visitng Clippers on Monday evening.

Converse unveils Shai Weapon

August 19, 2024

Converse just introduced the Shai Weapon, a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander-collab shoes, which is a new colorway of the iconic Converse Weapon. Converse is describing the shoes as;

Style icon Shai Gilgeous-Alexander inspired this take on a hardwood legend—the Shai Weapon. It has the durability and comfort you expect, with details that make every pair unique.

The Shai weapon will retail for $140.00 and they are now available via converse.com or your location retailer.

Together with the Shai Weapon, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was also announced as the new creative director of Converse Basketball, the company did not provide any specifics about the position but we can expect more details from the Converse regarding Shai’s new position.

Oklahoma City Thunder defeat Golden States behind Gilgeous-Alexander’s 38 points in OT (138-136)

December 9, 2023

The Oklahoma City Thunder (OKC) continue their impressive run, defeating the Golden State Warriors in overtime by a score of 138-136 on December 8th, 2023. This marks the second time in four matchups this season that the young Thunder squad has bested the defending champions in OT, highlighting their growing confidence and ability to compete with the league’s best.

The game was a rollercoaster of emotions, with both teams trading leads throughout the contest. Stephen Curry led the Warriors, pouring in 34 points and 6 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Thunder’s balanced attack. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the charge for OKC, dropping a game-high 38 points with 5 rebounds and 5 assists, he is 15-30 from the field.

Chet Holmgren, the rookie sensation, played a pivotal role in the Thunder’s victory. He dominated the paint, racking up 21 points, 7 rebounds and an assists with 3 blocks, making his presence felt on both ends of the court. His size and athleticism were too much for the Warriors’ frontcourt to handle, and his clutch free throws in the final seconds of regulation sent the game into overtime.

The Warriors is once again plague with turnovers, committing a 29 turnovers which the Thunders took advantage and converted to 35 points. This will be OKC’s 3 straight win over the Warriors and this will be the last game between the two teams in the regular season.

Warriors will visit KD and the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday, while OKC will host the Utah Jazz on Monday.