The Oklahoma City Thunder haven't made a huge dent in MVP voting in its history (including when they were the Seattle SuperSonics), but this year's team is proving that history could be changing.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is seen as the MVP favorite for this year alongside Denver Nuggets' Nikola Jokic, who has already won three MVPs including last year over Gilgeous-Alexander.
Could Gilgeous-Alexander become just the third player in Thunder history to earn the biggest player award of the year? We'll find out next week when the winner is announced.
In the meantime, take a look at the history of the Thunder and the MVP award.
Overview of the NBA MVP Award
The NBA MVP award has been given out annually since the 1955-56 season to highlight the league's best performing player from that season. The trophy was recently named the Michael Jordan Trophy in 2022-23 to honor the basketball icon who won the award five times. It was previously named the Maurice Podoloff Trophy after the NBA's first commissioner.
The MVP award is currently voted on by a select panel of sports media members throughout the United States and Canada. This has been the method since the 1980-81 season—before that, the MVP was voted on by the players. Each person who votes ranks the top five players. First-place votes earn 10 points, second-place earn seven, third-place earn five, fourth-place earn three and fifth-place earn one point. Whoever earns the most combined points wins the award.
List of Thunder MVP Winners
There's only been two Thunder players in NBA history to win the MVP award—Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. These are arguably the two players most synonymous with the Thunder because of their lasting impact they had on the team, even though they were unable to bring a NBA title to Oklahoma City.
Player
Position
Year
Kevin Durant
Forward
2014
Russell Westbrook
Guard
2017
Durant almost won the MVP award unanimously in 2014 as he earned 119 first-place votes and 1,232 votes overall, just short of the 1,250 max. LeBron James was the only other player to earn first-place votes, just six in comparison to Durant.
Westbrook earned a total of 69 first-place votes and 888 votes overall to win the MVP in 2017. James Harden, Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James also earned first-place votes that year.
Player ProfilesKevin Durant
In 2014 when Durant won MVP, the Thunder finished second in the Western Conference with a 59-23 record. Durant led the team with an average of 32 points per game (still his career-best), along with posting 7.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. The Thunder were eliminated in the Western Conference finals by the eventual champions, the San Antonio Spurs.
This remains the only year Durant has won MVP in his career, but he has since won two NBA titles and two NBA Finals MVP awards, all with the Golden State Warriors.
Durant was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics during their last season under that name and city in 2007 with the No. 2 overall pick. He remained with the team through the 2015-16 season. Since then, he's played for the Warriors, Brooklyn Nets and now with the Phoenix Suns. He found most of his success with the Warriors, but he will always be appreciated by the Thunder fanbase.
Russell Westbrook
In 2017 when Westbrook won MVP, the Thunder finished sixth in the Western Conference with a 47-35 record. They were eliminated in the first round of the NBA playoffs 4-1 by the Houston Rockets. Westbrook led the Thunder with an average of 31.6 points (still his career-best), 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists per contest.
It's the only time Westbrook has won MVP, and he has yet to win that elusive NBA title.
Westbrook left the Thunder just two seasons later following 11 seasons there to begin his professional career. He was drafted fourth overall by the Thunder in the 2008 draft. He's played for five NBA teams since his Thunder tenure, but he has struggled to find the same successes he did while in Oklahoma City. He's only earned one more All-Star bid since leaving the Thunder, for example.
Near-Misses and MVP FinalistsGary Payton (1997-98)
Payton finished third in MVP voting that year as a Seattle SuperSonic, behind Michael Jordan and Karl Malone. This was the last MVP title Jordan won out of the five he earned during his NBA career. It marked his final season with the Chicago Bulls, too. So, it's understandable why Payton didn't really stand a chance here.
Payton earned three first-place votes behind Jordan's 92 and Malone's 20. He averaged 19.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game that season. The SuperSonics lost in the Western Conference semifinals.
Payton was the first and only SuperSonic player to finish third in MVP voting before the franchise moved to Oklahoma City in 2008.
Kevin Durant (2009-10)
In his third season with the Thunder, Durant finished second behind LeBron James for the MVP award. Durant earned just four first-place votes to James's 116. It seems that Durant really didn't have a chance in comparison to James that season, which happened to be James's first MVP out of the four he's won thus far.
Durant averaged 30.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists that season. The Thunder lost in the first round of the playoffs that year to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Kevin Durant (2011-12)
Durant finished second behind James just two seasons later. This time, Durant earned 24 first-place votes in comparison to James's 85 votes. It was a much closer race that season. However, James ended the season with his first NBA title and NBA Finals MVP award on top of winning the league's MVP award. He captured the title with the Miami Heat, his first of four. It was his third MVP award.
Durant averaged 28 points, eight rebounds and 3.5 assists that season. To top it all off, the Thunder lost in the NBA Finals to James's Heat 4-1. It was Durant's first career NBA Finals appearance.
Kevin Durant (2012-13)
We're starting to sense a theme here… Durant once again finished second behind James in the MVP voting in 2013. Durant earned zero first-place votes as James ran away with 120 of them, but Durant finished with 765 total votes to put him in second place. James went on to win another NBA title and NBA Finals MVP award with the Heat that season.
Durant averaged 28.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 4.6 assists that season. The Thunder lost in the Western Conference semifinals that year to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Paul George (2018-19)
George played just two seasons with the Thunder, but put up an MVP-worthy season in his last year there. George finished third in MVP voting behind Giannis Antetokounmpo and James Harden, earning zero first-place votes but 356 total votes.
George averaged 28 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists that year. The Thunder lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Portland Trail Blazers that year.
The Thunder ended up trading George in the offseason to the Los Angeles Clippers and got Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in return—the rest is history there.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2023-24)
Just last season, Gilgeous-Alexander finished second in MVP voting behind Nikola Jokic. The Thunder star earned 15 first-place votes behind Jokic's 79. It was Jokic's third MVP award.
Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 30.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game last season. The Thunder lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference semifinals.
Could this be the year that Gilgeous-Alexander flips the outcome and overtakes Jokic to win the MVP award?
