Reigning MVP Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander doesn’t get rattled by much.
The 6-foot-6 superstar has made his name in the league by coolly, methodically picking apart opposing defenses with ruthless efficiency.
As an encore to their championship run in 2024-25, Gilgeous-Alexander’s Thunder have been obliterating the opposition this season. Oklahoma City has dropped just one of its first 25 games in 2025-26, making the club just the second squad ever to go 24-1 at the start of an NBA season, after the 73-win Golden State Warriors did it in 2015-16.
Quietly, the Thunder are also sniffing around the 1968-69 Los Angeles Lakers’ seemingly insurmountable in-season record of 33 consecutive wins. Oklahoma City has amassed 16 victories in a row.
It’s not your imagination: the Thunder have been winning at an historic level to kick off the year.
Per NBA stat expert Keerthika Uthayakumar, the team boasts the biggest scoring differential ever through 25 games, having massacred rival teams by 437 total points - an average margin of 17.48 points per.
Granted, it’s early, but the Thunder’s 17.48 point differential would be nearly a whopping five points clear of the current all-time leader across a full season, the 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks. That team, led by Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then still Lew Alcindor) and Oscar Robertson, notched a 12.58 point differential, and eventually did go on to win a championship. Only eight teams in history have logged double-digit point differentials over the course of an entire year, and all have ended those runs hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
And Gilgeous-Alexander has been the hub driving Oklahoma City’s superb offense.
Through 24 contests so far this year, the three-time All-NBA First Teamer has been averaging 32.6 points on .562/.454/.882 shooting splits (elite efficiency for a guard), 6.5 dimes, 4.6 boards, 1.5 steals and 0.7 rejections - in just 33.1 minutes per.
Assuming his Thunder continue on their now-anticipated trajectory towards a possible 70-plus-win championship season and he notches his second straight MVP and Finals MVP awards, Gilgeous-Alexander has likely already punched his ticket onto the NBA’s 100th Anniversary Team list in 2047 - even if he retired next summer (which, given the estimated $314.1 million he is owed after this season, feels exceedingly unlikely).
Gilgeous-Alexander boasts such incredible footwork as a below-the-rim player, plus such deft three-level scoring and killer two-way ferocity that he is already a certified all-time great guard. Again, he is only 27 years old, and neither of his two best teammates (24-year-old Williams and 23-year-old Holmgren) is yet in their prime.
But the biggest star on the best team in basketball deserves more flowers as a national figure (although, yes, he’s Canadian). To that end, he has become the face of an exciting new campaign that will hopefully do just that.
Gilgeous-Alexander has announced a fresh partnership with AT&T for its bold “Ball for All” initiative. Gilgeous-Alexander and AT&T are teaming up to help connect NBA fans with maximum access to the sports and its surrounding culture.
Fans can visit AT&T’s "Ball for All" site for a shot at a gift subscription to NBA League Pass for the rest of 2025-26. AT&T will be providing a whopping 10,000 free League Pass subscriptions.
So what makes AT&T's “Ball for All” campaign, and its emphasis on connecting fans to NBA games and even NBA culture beyond the court, such a great fit for the best guard in the game?
“I've worked with AT&T for years to bring fans closer to the NBA, so joining ‘Ball for All’ was a natural fit,” Gilgeous-Alexander tells Newsweek Sports. “We've teamed up across the regular season, playoffs, and All-Star, and the connection has always been strong. When they told me about ‘Ball for All,’ it clicked immediately.”
Before Gilgeous-Alexander emerged as a perpetual All-NBA First Teamer, he himself was a League Pass darling. So he understandably sparked to this opportunity from AT&T to share access to fans to keep tabs on both himself and the next future superstar beyond national coverage.
“I'm excited to connect with fans - their energy fuels the game. Surprising them with calls and gifting NBA League Pass is a great way to give back,” Gilgeous-Alexander says. “AT&T giving away 10,000 passes helps bring fans closer to the sport, which is why I wanted to be part of this.”
It may behoove those 10,000 fans to use that League Pass access to track Gilgeous-Alexander’s Thunder, beyond their 34 national games this season. Because they’ll be privy to potentially historic greatness in action.
Oklahoma City has been so dominant this season that Gilgeous-Alexander frequently sits for games’ entire fourth frames.
The Thunder now have their sights on some midseason glory. Oklahoma City blew out a frisky Phoenix Suns squad (albeit one missing its lone All-Star, combo guard Devin Booker) by nearly 50 points, 138-89, during an Emirates NBA Cup quarterfinal contest on Wednesday, and is now headed to Las Vegas for a semifinal matchup against the San Antonio Spurs.
True to form, none of the club’s “Big Three” - Gilgeous-Alexander, All-NBA small forward Jalen Williams, and big man Chet Holmgren - played a second during the Suns game’s final period.
In just 26:50 of action against Phoenix, while bearing the brunt of the Suns’ defensive attention along the perimeter, Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the floor (3-of-4 from distance) and 3-of-3 shooting from the charity stripe, in addition to dishing out eight assists, grabbing two rebounds, swiping two steals and blocking a shot. The 27-year-old Kentucky product also logged a team-best +43 plus-minus.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander now ranks among the most transcendent talents in the game today. His new collaboration with AT&T highlights just how impactful a force he can be off the floor, too.
Newsweek