Forget “face of the league” conversations when it comes to Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst is ready to put him in the Basketball Hall of Fame at just 26 years old.
At least, if he can finish the deal and lead the Thunder to a Finals victory while also lifting the MVP award.
Windy gave the high praise to SGA on Thursday morning’s episode of Get Up before Game 6 of the Finals and made the case why he’s already done enough to have a Hall-worthy resume.
“If [Shai Gilgeous-Alexander] wins tonight and gets the MVP, he will have a Hall of Fame resume.”
—@WindhorstESPN on SGA in Game 6 of the NBA Finals pic.twitter.com/TagBSUuL7h
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) June 19, 2025
“If you look at the fact he’s a 30 point scorer shooting over 50%, that they had the 68 wins as a team. And I know this is a new award but it should be counted on the resume,” Windhorst said. “He did win Western Conference Finals MVP, the Oscar Robertson trophy. [*Ed Note: It’s actually the Magic Johnson trophy.*] And look, when they were in trouble in this series down 2-1 on the road, he scores 35, 15 in the fourth quarter, one of the great fourth quarter runs of the last 20 years in the Finals. And he comes back in Game 5 to give them the lead and goes for 30 and 10 assists in that game.
It’s been a command performance and look. I know people are going to feel a certain way about this, but the reason I’m saying it is just to underscore this. If he wins tonight and gets the MVP, he will have a Hall of Fame resume. End of story, at age 26,” Windhorst concluded.
Now, it’s a little presumptive to hand the trophy over to Oklahoma City just yet. The Pacers have been very competitive with the Thunder and could still force a Game 7 with a win on Thursday at home in Game 6. And we know anything can happen in a Game 7 and the Pacers have already won this series on the Thunder’s home floor.
Additionally, the running mate of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is contesting the Finals MVP in his own right. Jalen Williams went for 42 in that pivotal Game 5 and is averaging 25.6 PPG in his own right this series. And if Williams takes charge in Game 6 or Game 7, perhaps he could win the MVP.
However, with the injury to Tyrese Haliburton and the Thunder’s dominance over the entire season, the most likely outcome looks like an OKC championship and an SGA MVP award. Given his historic scoring season, an MVP, a potential Finals MVP, he might indeed already have enough to earn a call from the Naismith Hall of Fame. But with the young Thunder team on the verge of a possible dynasty, he’s probably not going to stop anytime soon.
At the very least, it’s refreshing to see someone in the national media give Shai Gilgeous-Alexander his due rather than toiling away with the free throw merchant narrative.