Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has become the 14th player in NBA history to win back-to-back MVP awards.
- His peak performance is being compared to all-time greats using Box Plus-Minus as a key metric.
- The analysis reveals where his dominance stands among legendary players, sparking debate about his place in history.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is officially the reigning back-to-back Most Valuable Player in the NBA, as was made official on Sunday afternoon.
Breaking: Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has won his second consecutive NBA Most Valuable Player award, becoming the 14th player in league history to win back-to-back MVPs, multiple sources tell ESPN.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 17, 2026
As the tweet above mentions, Gilgeous-Alexander is only the 14th player in NBA history to win back-to-back MVPs. Great players can win a single MVP trophy, but historically speaking, only legends can do it twice — let alone in two straight years.
That means that Gilgeous-Alexander, who won't turn 28 until July, now has to start being mentioned among the best to have ever played the game — not only for his midrange brilliance, but for his all-around game. So, where does Gilgeous-Alexander's peak rank among the other players who won back-to-back MVPs?
Full list of players to win back-to-back MVP awards
Before we get to ranking Gilgeous-Alexander against his historical peers, we must know who he is going up against. So, here is a comprehensive list of all the players to ever win consecutive 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 |
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | 2025-2026 |
Where does Shai Gilgeous-Alexander rank among the NBA's best back-to-back MVPs?
First, it needs to be noted that a true ranking of all the above players would involve countless hours of data collection and deep scouting that are outside the scope of this exercise. This is me telling you that this is by no means a definitive ranking; rather, it is just a quick accounting, based on some of the information we have available to us. (Another thing that needs to be noted is that, since Gilgeous-Alexander is still fairly young, we are only comparing his peak to that of the other players on this list.)
Anyway, with those caveats out of the way, one shorthand way to look at this is through single-season Box Plus-Minus (BPM). Per Ben Taylor's version of the metric, Gilgeous-Alexander has a BPM of +8.6. The only MVP seasons on the above list that are higher than Gilgeous-Alexander's are Michael Jordan (1991), Stephen Curry (2016) and LeBron James (2013). Meanwhile, Nikola Jokić tied that mark in both 2021 and 2022.
Of course, it is worth mention that BPM is heavily tied to box score impact, and given how many more possessions there are today, it is much easier for modern players to post a higher BPM (only one player — 1987 Magic Johnson — posted a BPM above 8 before 1990). Still, seeing Gilgeous-Alexander above 2000s greats like Tim Duncan, Steve Nash and Giannis Antetokounmpo tells us that what we are seeing from him now may be better than those all-timers at their peaks. I'd also be pretty comfortable putting Gilgeous-Alexander over someone like Moses Malone (with all due respect to the Chairman of the Boards).
Even with modern-day stat inflation, the fact that Gilgeous-Alexander isn't definitively first on this list tells us that we aren't seeing the greatest peak of all-time among back-to-back MVPs. However, Gilgeous-Alexander has certainly done enough to prove that him winning this award two seasons in a row was no fluke.
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