Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added to his resume on Tuesday following his historic season.
Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Adds to Resume After MVP Season originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The 2024-25 NBA season was a historic one for Oklahoma City Thunder superstar guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Shai had a dominant season that helped lead the Thunder to the best record in the NBA during the regular season and eventually to a championship as they defeated the Indiana Pacers in seven games during the NBA Finals.
During the regular season, Shai averaged an NBA-best 32.7 points to go along with 5.0 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.0 blocks per game while shooting 51.9% from the field and 37.5% from three-point range.
With these numbers, the 26-year-old star was able to beat out Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic to win his first career regular season MVP award.
Shai then went on to win both the Western Conference Finals and NBA Finals MVP awards as well to cap off his historic season that saw the Thunder win their first championship since relocating to Oklahoma City.
After his incredible season, the Thunder rewarded Shai with a four-year, $285 million contract extension this offseason and he also added another achievement to his resume on Tuesday.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Shai will be on the cover of NBA 2K26 and that was later made official by NBA 2K as they made the announcement on social media.
Summer of SGA: MVP award, league scoring title, an NBA championship, Finals MVP, a $285 million super max extension, first signature shoe release ... and now Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will grace the new cover of NBA 2K26, per sources.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 8, 2025
“The generational run continues. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is your #NBA2K26 Standard Edition Cover Athlete,” NBA 2K posted on X on Tuesday.
The generational run continues ⚡️
— NBA 2K (@NBA2K) July 8, 2025
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is your #NBA2K26 Standard Edition Cover Athlete!
Pre-order NBA 2K26 starting tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/1pQTtWOUh2
This is an incredible achievement for Shai as he joins multiple NBA legends as cover stars for the popular video game including Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.
Shai also became the first Oklahoma City player to appear on the cover since Kevin Durant was the cover star on NBA 2K15.
NBA 2K has yet to release an official release date for NBA 2K26 but they did announce on X that pre-orders will begin on Wednesday, July 9.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 8, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: Basketball
