Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a phenomenal 2024-25 season, and this 2025-26 campaign could prove to be just as incredible. Gilgeous-Alexander won the NBA title, Finals MVP, and MVP in 2025, and Kendrick Perkins claimed on his Road Trippin’ Show that if he does it again, he’d crack the top 10 all-time.
“SGA, if he duplicates what he did last year,” Perkins said. “Meaning if he win MVP, which he’s probably going to win, another championship, and Finals MVP, somebody in that top 10 players of all time, move the f*** aside.”
Co-hosts Channing Frye vehemently disagreed with this hot take. Perkins wasn’t backing down, though.
“It’s the story, and I’m getting to it early,” Perkins said. “Here’s why. The motherf***er is only 27 years old. So we got seven more years of this type of greatness. And in this short period of time, by the way, let me remind you, he just joined Michael Jeffrey Jordan again for four consecutive seasons, averaging 30 [points], shooting over 50%. Only him and Jordan have done this s***.
“But if you go back-to-back and win another MVP and Finals MVP with all of these guys, these greats that are still here?” Perkins continued. “I know LeBron [James] is old. I know Steph [Curry] is aging. I know [Kevin Durant] is aging. [Nikola] Jokic, [Victor Wembanyama], all these motherf***ers, and you come out victorious again?
“And on top of that, [Jalen Williams], even if he does come back or when he comes back, he’s not going to be 100%,” Perkins added. “So, if you go and you go back-to-back in a time where we haven’t had a f***ing back-to-back champion since Moby Dick was a f***ing goldfish and you do it in this fashion? I don’t want to hear s***. Somebody in that top 10 step aside.”
The last time we saw a team win back-to-back titles was when the Golden State Warriors did it in 2017 and 2018. That Warriors team had four future Hall of Famers in Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green.
This Thunder team is undoubtedly incredible, but they’re not as talented as those Warriors were. If Gilgeous-Alexander leads them to glory again, then some interesting conversations will be had.
As Perkins also pointed out, Jalen Williams, the Thunder’s second-best player, hasn’t been healthy all season. Williams played 33 games during the regular season and is currently out with a Grade 1 hamstring strain. We might not see the very best of him in these playoffs.
We have seen the best of Gilgeous-Alexander. The 27-year-old averaged 33.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 8.0 assists, 0.5 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game as the Thunder swept the Phoenix Suns in the first round.
During that Suns series, it was also announced that Gilgeous-Alexander had won Clutch Player of the Year. It will almost certainly not be the only award he wins.
Gilgeous-Alexander is the favorite to win MVP. He averaged 31.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game during the regular season, and led the Thunder to a league-best 64-18 record. He is among the three finalists for MVP, and we’ll find out who wins at some point later this month.
Before that announcement is made, Gilgeous-Alexander will be looking to lead the Thunder past the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Semifinals. Game 1 tips off at Paycom Center on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. ET.
