Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander captured his second straight NBA Most Valuable Player award and stands as the widely recognized top player in basketball, with only Denver Nuggets’ three-time MVP Nikola Jokic presenting a legitimate challenge to that status.
However, the Thunder standout characterized the 2025-26 campaign as unsuccessful during Sunday’s media session, coming just 24 hours after Oklahoma City fell to the San Antonio Spurs in the decisive seventh game of the Western Conference finals, crushing their hopes of capturing back-to-back NBA championships. San Antonio will now face the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals, while Gilgeous-Alexander’s postseason concludes sooner than anticipated.
“I failed at my goal,” Gilgeous-Alexander stated at his season-ending media availability. “I didn’t achieve what I wanted to achieve. But I learn the most about myself and make the greatest amount of increases in my career when I fail and don’t get what I want. I look at this no different. I didn’t get where I wanted to go this season. There’s a reason for that. Now I have to look at that reason and try to make sure it never happens again.”
Oklahoma City appeared positioned to make another Finals run throughout much of the year.
The Thunder opened with an impressive 24-1 record and later assembled a dominant 19-1 stretch during the final portion of their 64-18 regular season. Oklahoma City then captured eight consecutive playoff victories before encountering significant challenges against San Antonio.
Despite holding a commanding 3-2 advantage in the series, the Thunder suffered a devastating 118-91 defeat on San Antonio’s home court in Game 6. The Spurs continued their momentum by outperforming the host Thunder in the deciding contest, winning 111-103.
Gilgeous-Alexander posted 25.9 points per game throughout the series, recording three contests with 30 or more points, but connected on only 40.9% of his field goal attempts, significantly below his outstanding 55.3% regular season percentage. He had averaged 31.1 points during the regular season.
The Thunder star shot below 37% in four separate games during the series, consistently facing the defensive presence of Spurs standout Victor Wembanyama.
“There’s a guy on their back line that is a little bit different,” Gilgeous-Alexander commented regarding Wembanyama. “They funnel everything to him. … It’s a really good defense. But it’s not impossible to score. I just think it’s very different.”
Oklahoma City’s chances were significantly hampered by the absence of co-star Jalen Williams from Game 7 due to a left hamstring problem. Williams participated in only three series games and five total playoff contests because of the injury.
Williams believes the series outcome would have been different with his full participation.
“Obviously I think I could have made an impact,” Williams commented. “I think we could have won if I played. Went to seven with them without me playing. I don’t think I make us worse. That’s really my answer to that. But it’s also hats off to them. What do you want them to do about me being hurt?”
Ajay Mitchell, who provided solid production replacing Williams, was unavailable for the series’ final four games after suffering a right calf injury. His unavailability also created significant problems.
Center Chet Holmgren has faced criticism following Oklahoma City’s series collapse, as the 7-foot-4 Wembanyama thoroughly dominated their matchup. Holmgren managed only 10.7 points per game in the series and was nearly invisible in the final game, recording four points on 1-of-2 shooting with four rebounds across 33 minutes.
“I feel like part of it was being kind of closed out heavy,” Holmgren explained. “Then also kind of just being a little bit out of rhythm sometimes. I feel like there were definitely opportunities to get more attempts up that I didn’t in the moment. That’s an area to improve.”
Wembanyama delivered 27.3 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game in the series for San Antonio.
