Did Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Just Complete the Greatest Season in Oklahoma City Thunder History?

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Basic Information:

• Player: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
• Team: Oklahoma City Thunder
• Season: 2024-25
• Position: Point Guard/Wing
• Awards: Regular Season MVP, Finals MVP, NBA Champion
• Statistics: 32.7 points per game, 33.8 points per 75 possessions

The NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder have had several outstanding seasons in their franchise's short history. But Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may have just finished the best one.

After emerging victorious from one of the best (and most tragic) NBA Finals in recent memory, the Oklahoma City Thunder are now world champions. Guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander became the first player in their short history to win Finals MVP and the first overall since LeBron James in 2013 to add that award to regular season MVP in the same season.

Thunder Historical Context

Gilgeous-Alexander is not the first Thunder player to ever be crowned king of the regular season. Kevin Durant won it in 2013-14, and Russell Westbrook did the same three years later. But Gilgeous-Alexander accomplished something that neither of those players ever achieved - he led the Thunder to the Promised Land.

This begs the question: Did Gilgeous-Alexander just put together the best individual season in Thunder franchise history?

The Numbers Favor Shai

Basketball is a team sport, so it isn't fair to say Gilgeous-Alexander's 2024-25 season is automatically better than any Thunder season of Durant or Westbrook because he won a championship and they didn't.

This Thunder team was a juggernaut, finishing with a TRACR score of 12.9. For reference, the best team that either of those future Hall of Famers played on came in 2012-13 when their team's TRACR ended at 9.7.

Offensive Dominance

But even when you look at individual numbers, the argument tends to favor Gilgeous-Alexander. First off, his raw points per game (32.7) is higher than any season authored by Durant (32.0) or Westbrook (31.6).

A common reaction to hearing this would be to write it off as a consequence of the spike in offensive efficiency and points being generally easier to come by today than they were 10 years ago. However, even Gilgeous-Alexander's per possession numbers (33.8 points per 75) are also ahead of Durant (30.9) and Westbrook (33.2).

Versatility vs Specialization

Gilgeous-Alexander isn't nearly the same passer as Westbrook (31.3% assist rate, compared to Westbrook's 57.3%), but he makes up for it by turning the ball over less than the Triple-Double King (85th percentile turnover rate) and being more efficient as a scorer (91st percentile true shooting).

Durant was more efficient as a scorer (98th percentile true shooting in 2013-14), but he turned the ball over more (57th percentile turnover rate) and didn't set up his teammates as frequently (26.7% assist rate). The bottom line is Gilgeous-Alexander provides the best blend of scoring, efficiency, passing, and ball handling of the trio.

Defensive Impact

On defense, Gilgeous-Alexander's combination of length (78th percentile block rate) and ball hawking (87th percentile steal rate) ability makes him a clear positive on that end of the floor (91st percentile in D-DRIP).

Our D-DRIP database dates back to 2012-13, so we don't have numbers for all of their seasons in Oklahoma. But it's safe to say that neither Durant nor Westbrook reached Gilgeous-Alexander's current level as defenders, as evidenced by both of them having lower D-DRIP scores during their MVP seasons.

Winning Impact

If the numbers above don't prove to you that Gilgeous-Alexander is the better defender and more well-balanced offensive player, then maybe his impact on winning will sell you on this take.

This season, the Thunder had an on-court rating of +16.9 per 100 when Gilgeous-Alexander was on the floor. That's higher than any on-court rating the Thunder had with either Durant or Westbrook. It's actually higher than any on-court rating either has had in his career.

Playoff Dominance

Gilgeous-Alexander's postseason on-court rating (+9.6 per 100) is also higher than any playoff run that Durant/Westbrook completed with the Thunder (not counting seasons when one of them got hurt in the middle of the playoffs).

Again, part of the reason Gilgeous-Alexander's on-court rating was so high was that he was playing on an exceptional team. Still, the Thunder were 11.1 points better per 100 when Gilgeous-Alexander was on the floor than on the bench – a clear indicator he was the one driving their success.

Historical Company

The totality of Gilgeous-Alexander's dominance this season can't be overstated. He became the fourth player to win the scoring title, MVP and NBA title in the same season, joining Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. That doesn't even include his Western Conference Finals MVP or NBA Finals MVP.

He checked just about every box you can check in his age-26 season.

Long-term Perspective

Gilgeous-Alexander has a long way to go before he can put together a career that's on par with the likes of Durant and Westbrook. There's no use in arguing that yet.

But his 2024-25 campaign is better than any other we've seen from an Oklahoma City player. When you look at the data, it's hard to argue otherwise.

Thanks to Stats Perform for the data and photo.