Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is leading a historic season for the Thunder, filled with personal and team achievements that he never saw before. After winning both the potential MVP awards heading into the NBA Finals, Gilgeous-Alexander was the betting favorite to be the Finals MVP if the Thunder win the Finals. One of the reasons he is predicted to do so is because of his phenomenal scoring prowess.
Following his appearance in Game 2 of the NBA Finals, Gilgeous-Alexander has now become the 12th player in NBA history to score 3000 points or more in an NBA season.
The others:
10x – Michael Jordan
5x – Wilt Chamberlain
2023-24 – Luka Dončić
2018-19 – James Harden
2013-14 – Kevin Durant
2005-06 – Kobe Bryant
1999-00 – Shaquille O'Neal
1974-75 – Bob McAdoo
1971-72 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
1966-67 – Rick Barry
1962-63 – Elgin Baylor https://t.co/hnz3CESPSo
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) June 9, 2025
He joins the likes of Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, and other NBA greats. Only three other active players have accomplished this feat in the NBA right now: Luka Doncic, James Harden, and Kevin Durant. Notably, LeBron James fell short of this achievement by one point in the 2017-18 season (2999 points).
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 2484 of his points in the regular season. After he secured the Magic Johnson Award for the Western Conference Finals MVP, he spoke about how his teammates have helped him score the points he did, well, at least in that series, but his general sentiment becomes clear.
“Of course I want to thank my teammates, without them I’m nothing, clear as day. I don’t have 124 points by myself, I love these guys to death.”
The Thunder rallied right from the tip-off, took an early lead, and did not let go of it till the end as they won 123-107 against the Pacers. Gilgeous-Alexander finished Game 2 of the NBA Finals with 34 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds. Gilgeous-Alexander now has 3032 points for the season. Wilt Chamberlain holds the record for the most points in a single NBA season when he averaged 50.4 points per game for his 4029 points in 1961-62.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Eclipses Allen Iverson To Make NBA History
In his first two games of the NBA Finals, Gilgeous-Alexander has combined for 72 points, which is the most by any player in their debut NBA Finals appearance. The previous player with the most points in their debut Finals series’ first two games was Allen Iverson, who had 71 points in 2001 against the Lakers.
Gilgeous-Alexander shot 52.4% in the game today (11 of 21) but went only 25% from beyond the arc (1 of 4). About a third of his 34 points came from the free-throw line as he went 11 of 12 in Game 2. Heading into Game 3 in Indiana, the Thunder have regained the momentum, but the Pacers now hold the advantage as the Thunder will need to pull off wins on the road or at least avoid losing both games to regain the home-court advantage in this series.
