Chet Holmgren drops 4-word reaction to new MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's expensive gifts to OKC teammates
The wait is finally over. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander officially won the league's MVP award on Wednesday, edging Nikola Jokic with 71 first-place votes. Jokic got the other 29 first-place votes to close out an epic two-man race between two players who stood out from the rest of the pack all year long.
Gilgeous-Alexander averaged a league-leading 32.7 points to go along with 5.0 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.7 steals, 1.0 blocks and 2.1 three-pointers per game, leading the OKC Thunder to a league-best 68-14 record.
Then again, Gilgeous-Alexander knows he couldn't have found that kind of success on his own, which is why he hooked up all of his teammates with brand new Rolex watches after winning the award.
Fellow star Chet Holmgren took to Instagram on Wednesday to brag about his new gift and thank Gilgeous-Alexander for such a generous gesture.
"Shoutout to MVP SHI," Holmgren wrote on the story.
Holmgren also played a big role in Mark Daigneault's team's success, averaging 15.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.2 blocks and 1.4 three-pointers per game on 49% from the floor in his second season out of Gonzaga.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is eligible to sign the largest contract extension in NBA history
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander can most definitely afford to treat his teammates with something special. Per Spotrac, he made $35,859,950 this season, and he's still in the midst of a five-year deal worth a whopping $179,299,750.
However, that deal will look like pocket change compared to what he's about to get. According to ESPN analyst Bobby Marks, he's already met the criteria to get a supermax contract extension.
"Shai Gilgeous-Alexander met the super max criteria (All-NBA in 2 out of 3 years) last offseason but was ineligible to sign because he was short of the years of service criteria," Marks tweeted on Wednesday.
He could get as many as $293 million this summer. Then again, after winning MVP, he might want to wait for another year, as he would be in line to sign the largest contract extension in NBA history:
"Because he won MVP (and this would have applied to being named All-NBA this year), SGA is now eligible to sign a five-year $380M extension but would have to wait until the 2026 offseason," Marks added.
This means that the Canadian combo guard could make a staggering $76 million per year, even passing Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani in annual average value.