Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- Winning MVP is an honor that only the greatest players in NBA history have earned. An even more elite and limited group have done it back-to-back.
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is on track to join this group, putting up huge numbers for the best team in the NBA ... again.
- Winning another MVP would put Shai in the same company as LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and more.
Winning the Most Valuable Player award is one of the greatest honors a player can receive in their career. It is the ultimate individual achievement and instantly marks a player as an all-time great — as of this writing, every eligible player who has won MVP has made it to the Basketball Hall of Fame. In total, just 37 players have taken home this illustrious piece of hardwood.
However, what is even rarer is winning the MVP award in back-to-back seasons. To date, here are all of the times in NBA history that this has happened:
Every NBA player who was won back-to-back MVPs
Player Name | Seasons |
|---|---|
Bill Russell | 1961-63 |
Wilt Chamberlain | 1966-68 |
Kareem Abdul-Jabaar | 1971-72 |
Kareem Abdul-Jabaar | 1976-77 |
Moses Malone | 1982-83 |
Larry Bird | 1984-86 |
Magic Johnson | 1989-90 |
Michael Jordan | 1991-92 |
Tim Duncan | 2002-03 |
Steve Nash | 2005-06 |
LeBron James | 2009-10 |
LeBron James | 2012-13 |
Stephen Curry | 2015-16 |
Giannis Antetokounmpo | 2019-20 |
Nikola Jokic | 2021-22 |
So far, the league has seen 15 separate instances where a player has gone back-to-back. Kareem Abdul-Jabaar and LeBron James have done it in two seperate instances. And now, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has a chance to accomplish this feat this season.
Can Shai Gilgeous-Alexander go back-to-back?
According to betting sites like FanDuel, Gilgeous-Alexander is the favorite to take home the MVP award. Their website has him gives him -450 odds (an implied probability of 81.8 percent) of going back-to-back. His greatest competitor is Victor Wembanyama, whose odds on FanDuel currently sit at +350 (22.2 percent). After that, Luka Doncic (+3000, 3.2 percent) and Nikola Jokic (+10000, 1 percent) are viewed as longshots at this point in time.
To win the MVP, you generally need to meet three elements: 1) have to play at least 65 games (new rule that may be getting changed soon), 2) generally need to be on one of the best teams in the league, and 3) need to be putting up some monster numbers.
As of right now, Gilgeous-Alexander has played 64 games. The Oklahoma City Thunder have six games left to go, so barring some practice catastrophe (*knocks wood aggressively*), Gilgeous-Alexander will meet the minimum games played requirement.
The defending-champion Thunder have also held the best record (60-16) and best net rating (plus-11.0) for most of the season. So, this part will be no problem for Gilgeous-Alexander.
And lastly, Gilgeous-Alexander is putting up insane numbers (again). Along with breaking Wilt Chamberlain's seemingly-unbreakable record, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 31.6 points, 6.5 assists, and 1.4 steals on 67.1 a true shooting percentile (which is in the 95th percentile in the league).
Gilgeous-Alexander is also first in the entire NBA in Estimated Plus-Minus (per Dunks & Threes). He is also in the 99th percentile in on-court net rating and in the 92nd percentile in on/off rating (per Cleaning the Glass). So, he is clearly powering the Thunder's success this year.
The only real way that Gilgeous-Alexander won't go back-to-back is by some weird confluence of voter fatigue and Wembanyama going absolutely berzerk during this final stretch of the season. However, voters will likely notice the large minutes played gap between the two (Gilgeous-Alexander has played 392 more minutes) and Wembanyama's lack of experience and come to the conclusion that this is still Gilgeous-Alexander's league and the prodigy will have plenty of chances to capture this award in the future.