Shai Gilgeous-Alexander accepts the MVP Michael Jordan Trophy before a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on May 22.Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
Two decades after he became the first Canadian to win the NBA’s most-valuable-player award, Steve Nash is thrilled to have company.
Reacting the day after Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander became the second Canadian to earn the prestigious award, Nash called the 26-year-old Hamiltonian his “favourite player to watch” and marvelled at his remarkable season.
“This is a very special moment for me. I genuinely get super excited to see his success,” said Nash during a video call with reporters on Thursday. “I just hope he continues on this trajectory and continues to rack up seasons like this, and represent himself, his country and his team the way he’s been doing. It’s phenomenal.”
Cathal Kelly: MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander should be the new face of the NBA
Nash won back-to-back MVP awards in 2005 and 2006 with the Phoenix Suns. During his 18-year NBA career, he was an eight-time NBA all-star.
Expert playmaking, passing skills and court vision made Nash one of the best point guards, and landed him in the Hall of Fame. Nash beat out Shaquille O’Neal for his first MVP award, and Kobe Bryant for his second. But the 51-year-old retired star was more eager to discuss Gilgeous-Alexander’s accomplishments on Thursday – as one of the stars of this NBA postseason, currently leading his Thunder in the Western Conference Finals versus the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“Not only is he playing at an incredibly high level, statistically, he’s reaching some pretty rarefied air, and is also the leader of a very healthy, successful team,” said Nash of the Canadian known across the league as SGA. “You can back that up with the eye test, but also the numbers are almost unfathomable.”
Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash waves to the crowd in Phoenix in May, 2006. During his 18-year NBA career, Nash was a two-time MVP and an eight-time NBA all-star.JEFF TOPPING/X00284
Indeed, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 32.7 points in the regular season, 5.0 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.72 steals and 1.01 blocks in 34.2 minutes in 76 games. The seven-year veteran became the first Canadian-born player to win the NBA’s scoring title.
The making of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA’s most valuable player
Gilgeous-Alexander scored at least 20 points in 72 consecutive games, the longest single-season streak since 1963-64 (when Wilt Chamberlain had an 80-game streak and Oscar Robertson a 76-game stretch). Gilgeous-Alexander became the second player in NBA history to average at least 32 points and six assists per game and shoot 50 or more per cent from the field in a season, joining Michael Jordan (1988-89 and 1989-90).
Nash said he hadn’t yet spoken to Gilgeous-Alexander since the award was announced Wednesday, but the two talked last month, with Nash saying “how proud I am of everything he’s doing, and everything he represents.”
Gilgeous-Alexander noted in his comments Wednesday that Nash’s career had impacted him. That touched the retired star.
“There’s no better feeling than watching these guys thrive and them saying you had an impact on them,” Nash said. “It’s an honour that I was able to play some role in perhaps allowing them to dream and see what’s possible. And it definitely feels incredible to get that acknowledgment from somebody that I admire so much.”
Gilgeous-Alexander has been surging toward this honour for a while. The Canadian finished fifth in the MVP voting two seasons ago, then second last season.
In voting this year, the Thunder point guard beat out Serbia’s Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets and Greek star Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks. Ballots were cast before the playoffs began, by 100 media members who regularly cover the NBA. Gilgeous-Alexander received 71 first-place votes; Jokic got the other 29. This is the seventh year in a row the MVP has been a player from outside the United States.
“The fact that people are succeeding from all different countries and backgrounds, I think is fantastic,” said Nash. “I think the world wants to see it become more and more global.”
The NBA had few other Canadians during Nash’s heyday, such as Rick Fox and Bill Wennington. Nash has enjoyed watching that number grow.
“With the Raptors and Grizzlies for a period of time, coming to Canada, the internet making the world smaller and sharing information, with AAU Basketball kind of crossing the border, our kids believe they’re as good as anybody,” said Nash of Canadian basketball talent.
Gilgeous-Alexander leaps to the basket to dunk as Denver Nuggets' Christian Braun defends during a game earlier this month.Kyle Phillips/The Associated Press
Gilgeous-Alexander helped carry Canada’s men’s national team to a berth in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Nash has high hopes for where the Hamilton native can help take Team Canada.
“His commitment, I think, is not only an incredible kind of influence on the rest of the players, but also the success of the program,” Nash said. “He’s a leader on the national team. He’s pushing boundaries as to what’s possible individually and as a nation, he’s also inspiring a generation, or many generations beneath himself. And it’s very, very powerful to have a player and a figure like that.”
That influence could be seen in Hamilton on Thursday, where students at Gilgeous-Alexander’s former high school, Sir Allan MacNab Secondary School, gathered for a special assembly to celebrate news of the award. A mural is now up at the school, provided by his sponsor Converse, featuring the NBA star in his blue No. 2 Thunder jersey, his arms outstretched wide, as if completing the V in the letters ‘MVP.’
Nash couldn’t recall many specifics about the first time he won in 2005, but he could remember how it always felt when Canadians celebrated him.
“It always gives me chills to think about the reception I got from Canadians, playing in the Olympics or having success at the NBA level,” Nash said. “I think it’s always one of the great sources of pride.”
So will Gilgeous-Alexander’s life change now that he’s joined the elite list of NBA MVPs? Is there any advice that Nash, a two-time winner, would have for the new MVP?
“He doesn’t need any advice, he’s rock solid in everything the does,” Nash said. “He’s got an incredible process and desire and work ethic, incredible character, and that’s what’s gotten him here.”