Who is the Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander? Everything to Know
The OKC Thunder star and 2025 NBA MVP is just getting started.
If you haven't been watching a lot of NBA action, you're missing out on some amazing talent, and it's all coming to NBC this fall when the NBA on NBC finally returns. One of the league's most talented, arguably the most talented, is a rising star who has arrived in full this season: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, aka Shaivonte Aician Gilgeous-Alexander, aka SGA.
The 26-year-old Oklahoma City Thunder guard is not just the league's reigning scoring leader, but also the NBA's Most Valuable Player, having beat out the great Nikola Jokić for the 2024-2025 season's biggest individual honor. But Gilgeous-Alexander has more than individual awards in mind this year, as he's leading the Thunder on a crash course ever closer to their first NBA Championship (granted, they have to get through the NBA Finals first).
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While Gilgeous-Alexander is still making a name for himself outside of basketball circles, the Canadian superstar is very much the current face of the league. So here's everything you need to know about OKC's MVP, SGA.
Who is NBA MVP Shei Gilgeous-Alexander?
One of Canada's favorite sons, SGA was born July 12, 1998 in Toronto, Ontario to Charmaine Gilgeous (a former track star who competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics for Antigua and Barbuda) and Vaughn Alexander (a high school basketball star). SGA was actually cut from his 8th grade JV team, before honing his basketball skills at two high schools (St. Thomas More and Sir Allan MacNab) in Ontario, then finishing up at Hamilton Heights Christian Academy in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
For college, SGA headed to Kentucky to work with Coach John Calipari for the 2017–2018 season, where, as a freshman, he led the team in assists, steals, free-throw percentage, and 3-point field-goal percentage, while finishing second in scoring.
After going one and done at Kentucky, the Charlotte Hornets picked up SGA in the 2018 NBA Draft with the 11th overall pick, but traded him that night to the Los Angeles Clippers. He made the NBA All-Rookie Second Team before being traded to OKC in July 2019.
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SGA certainly brought the juice to the Thunder. In his first year, he led the team in scoring on the way to a 5th seed in the playoffs. After dealing with injuries for a couple seasons, in 2023, Gilgeous-Alexander emerged as an NBA All-Star and made the All-NBA First Team, while scoring 31.4 points per game. He's been an All-Star and First Teamer ever since. And now he's the league's MVP!
“I always thought that I could be a really good player because I saw what putting your head down and working and controlling what you control can do for you. I made tremendous strides but I never thought this was going to happen,” SGA told NBA.com about winning the MVP award.
Not just an NBA star, SGA is also a force on the international basketball scene, having started for the Canadian team in the 2024 Summer Olympics. He also led Team Canada to the Bronze Medal at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, while being named to the World Cup All-Tournament Team. That year, he won the Northern Star Award for the Canadian athlete of the year, just the second basketball player to ever earn the honor.
Shei Gilgeous-Alexander's wife and family
In February of 2024, SGA married Hailey Summers, his high school sweetheart and a former NCAA Division I soccer player at the University at Albany from 2017 to 2021. The couple had their first child, a boy named Ares Alexander, on April 25, 2024. They also have a dog named Echo.
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“I wouldn’t be the player I am, I wouldn’t be the father I am without you,” SGA said (via Town & Country) about Summers after winning the MVP award.
How to watch the NBA on NBC and Peacock this fall
Peacock will stream exclusive NBA games on Monday nights, while NBC and Peacock will present national coverage of regional doubleheaders on Tuesday nights in primetime. Then later in the season, NBC Sports will launch Sunday Night Basketball in 2026 at the conclusion of Sunday Night Football and the NFL season.
