Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put together one of the all-time great individual seasons for an NBA star in the 2024-25 season when he became the first player to win the league’s scoring title, MVP, Finals MVP and a championship in the same season since Michael Jordan pulled off the same astonishing feat in 1997-98.
And yet, despite producing a season we haven’t seen in almost 30 years, I found myself on an island when ranking Gilgeous-Alexander in the top spot as the CBS Sports staff put together its Top 100 players in the NBA ahead of the 2025-26 season.
That is because Nikola Jokić is busy rewriting history books himself, and he is a more than worthy candidate for that No. 1 position. The three-time MVP produced the best statistical season of his career in 2024-25, averaging a monstrous triple-double (29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds, 10.2 assists) and doing so on outrageous efficiency (66.3% true shooting).
NBA Top 100 players, ranked: How Nikola Jokić, SGA, Luka Dončić and more stack up as new season begins
Sam Quinn
What I won’t do here is argue against Jokić’s greatness or insinuate he is anything short of an all-time great. I will state the case for Gilgeous-Alexander occupying the top spot for the upcoming season, as I believe we are witnessing the emergence of a superstar with similar dominance, but at the point guard position.
Gilgeous-Alexander is the best version of the traditional, three-level scoring guard we’ve seen since Jordan. Even at his peak, Kobe Bryant didn’t match the ruthless efficiency with which Gilgeous-Alexander operates as a high-volume scorer, never topping 46.9% from the field. Gilgeous-Alexander, meanwhile, has averaged north of 30 points per game in three straight seasons, shooting 51.0% or better in all of them.
Beyond the efficiency, what separates Gilgeous-Alexander as a scorer from many of his contemporaries is his consistency. He has become the thing that separates the elite from just the greats — inevitable. There are plenty of players in the NBA capable of great things in any given game, but an exceptional few who reach that level on a nightly basis. He has counters prepared for every defensive approach, allowing him to continue getting to his spots (and, yes, the foul line), scoring with efficiency, and keeping the Oklahoma City offense on track — avoiding the pitfalls of grinding OKC’s offense to a halt while trying to create for himself.
He scored fewer than 20 points in a game one time in the 2024-25 regular season (an 18-point outing in the fourth game of the season) while scoring 30 or more on 49 occasions. In the playoffs, he had three outings below 20 points, while scoring 30 or more in 15 of the Thunder’s 23 playoff games en route to the title, even while struggling with his three-point shot against defenses trying to force anyone else to beat them.
For as much as we discuss Jokić orchestrating everything for the Nuggets, Gilgeous-Alexander serves as an equally important engine for Oklahoma City. His 34.8% usage rate last season was third in the league, behind only LaMelo Ball and Giannis Antetokounmpo, with a key difference being SGA was doing so on the league’s third best offense (119.2 offensive rating) — Antetokounmpo’s Bucks were 10th (115.1) and Ball’s Hornets were 29th (106.7).
It’s exceedingly rare for a team as successful and efficient as the Thunder to rely so heavily on one player for creation, but that’s a testament to Gilgeous-Alexander’s abilities as both a scorer and facilitator. He pulls all of the strings for the Thunder and has learned how to toe the line between being an elite scorer and individual creator, while also keeping his teammates involved and engaged. Gilgeous-Alexander is tasked with making the right decisions with the ball almost all the time and does so astonishingly well, as his efficiency extends beyond scoring. He turns it over at a freakishly low rate, as his 8.6% turnover rate is the lowest of any of the top 20 in usage rate in the NBA last season.
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Gilgeous-Alexander couples that offensive prowess with high-level defense, operating as a plus-defender like a select few of his elite offensive peers. He led the league in defensive win shares last year (4.8), unquestionably a byproduct of a dominant team defense from Oklahoma City, but he plays his part in making the Thunder elite on defense both at the point of attack and as a versatile, switchable cog in the machine.
That two-way ability puts Gilgeous-Alexander in a rare breed of superstar. It is what makes the Thunder not just a title contender but the runaway favorite entering the season. At 27 years old, the Canadian star is just entering his prime, and the terrifying proposition for the rest of the league is that it’s possible he’s still capable of being even better, with a long runway in front of him to rack up more accolades, titles and awards.
Jokić is the current gold standard for sustained excellence as a superstar. He has three MVPs and two runner-up finishes in the last five years, producing stat lines never seen from anyone, much less a center. However, I believe Gilgeous-Alexander has a chance to pull off a similar run at the point guard position. He benefits from having the longest title window possible in the modern NBA with the construction of this Thunder team, but make no mistake, they’re in that position because of him.
The SGA era may very well be upon us, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s carrying the torch as the league’s best player for years to come.