It’s been a big week for Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Not only did the Thunder take an early 1-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals against the Minnesota Timberwolves, but Shai was honored with his first career NBA MVP Award. Ahead of Game 2 of the WCF, Shai’s former Thunder teammate, Chris Paul spoke about his perception of the 2024-25 MVP.

“He’s selfless. He hoops, he lets his game do the talking, he doesn’t really say much,” Paul said. “But the other thing I remember when we were teammates was we used to talk about defense a lot. And if you see most elite players in our league, you don’t have to be Lu Dort. You don’t have to be the best defensive player on your team. They just want to see you try.”

“And so Shai accepts that when he has to, on any given night on both ends of the court,” Paul continued. “I know everybody knows how nice he is hooping-wise. But Shai, he don’t say much. . .you don’t see him on too many endorsements or whatnot, he just pretty much stays to himself. He just comes out there and he usually gives people buckets.”

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Gilgeous-Alexander and Paul were teammates for only one season, in 2019-20 with the Thunder. Gilgeous-Alexander had been traded to the Thunder by the LA Clippers in the massive Paul George trade, while Paul arrived via the Houston Rockets in a trade involving Russell Westbrook.

When the NBA resurfaced that season in the bubble following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chris Paul helped lead the Thunder to the NBA Playoffs. The Thunder put up a valiant effort against the Rockets in the opening round, but were eliminated in seven games.

This season, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has emerged as arguably the brightest young star in the NBA. He appeared in 76 games this season, at a little over 34 minutes per game. He averaged a league-leading 32.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.0 blocked shots with splits of 51.9 percent shooting from the field, 37.5 percent shooting from the three-point line and 89.8 percent shooting from the free-throw line.