Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the 2025-26 NBA Clutch Player of the Year. The Thunder superstar already has the regular-season MVP locked up for the second straight year, and now he adds the clutch award to a trophy case that is starting to need additional shelving.
The numbers behind the award are absurd. SGA shot 56 percent in the clutch this season, hit nearly half his threes in clutch situations, and accounted for more game-winning possessions than anyone in the league. The Thunder went 38-9 in clutch games. That is not a small sample anymore.
What makes SGA’s clutch profile different is that he does not need a play designed for him. Mark Daigneault runs the offense the same way late as he does early. SGA initiates. He probes. He gets to his spot. He either pulls up or finishes through contact. The free throw rate goes up. The turnover rate stays low.
That is the part that always feels under-discussed. Most stars in the clutch get higher usage and lower efficiency. SGA’s efficiency actually goes up. He shoots better with the game on the line than he does in the first quarter, which is something only Curry, Durant, and prime Kobe have produced over real samples.
The Thunder ride that. Their offense in the last five minutes is the cleanest in basketball because there is no debate about who has the ball. Jalen Williams gets his looks off SGA’s gravity. Chet Holmgren cleans up the misses. Everyone else stands in the right spot.
The Clutch Player of the Year award has only existed since 2022-23. SGA winning it now puts him in a small group with Stephen Curry, DeMar DeRozan, and Jalen Brunson. He is the youngest winner so far at 27.
This is the moment where it becomes weird to keep calling SGA underrated. He has won MVP. He has been the best player on the best team. He has now won a clutch award the league did not even have until three years ago. The next item on the list is a Finals MVP, and that one is still in front of him.
The Thunder are 8-0 in the playoffs. They are six wins from a second straight title. If they finish the job, SGA becomes the youngest player to win back-to-back championships as a primary scorer since Kobe in 2009-10.
That is the company he is approaching. The Clutch Player of the Year award is one more line on a resume that is not stopping anytime soon. The strange thing is how often people still talk about SGA like he is a rising star. He stopped rising two years ago. He is already there.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
