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Oops, Narrative Fail
It’s been a fantastic year for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The star guard of the Oklahoma City Thunder won the league’s MVP during the regular season, leading the Thunder to a season-best 68-14 record. The Thunder then advanced through the playoffs and knocked off the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, winning the first title in franchise history. Gilgeous-Alexander was awarded with Finals MVP for his efforts.
Now, he’s signing one of the largest contracts in NBA history.
Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder agreed to a four-year contract extension that will pay him $285 million. The extension won’t kick in until the start of the 2027-28 season, so over the next six years, Gilgeous-Alexander will make a whopping $364 million.
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Analyst Bobby Marks broke down the numbers inside Gilgeous-Alexander’s extension. While it doesn’t quite reach the $80 million that seemed possible earlier this year, it’s still hitting wild amounts of money every season. Here’s how much Gilgeous-Alexander will make each year of the new contract:
- 2027-28: $63,525,000
- 2028-29: $68,607,000
- 2029-30: $73,689,000
- 2030-31: $78,771,000
That’s nearly $78.8 million during the final season of the extension. For context, Stephen Curry was the highest-paid player in the league this year, with a salary worth about $57.7 million. Gilgeous-Alexander’s new deal makes it the richest per-season deal in NBA history.
The All-Star averaged a league-leading 32.7 points during the regular season and 30.3 points in the playoffs. His 32.7 points are the highest by a player who also won a championship that year, eking out Michael Jordan’s 32.6 points in the 1992-93 season. Not bad company to be in!
Gilgeous-Alexander arrived in Oklahoma City in 2019 after his rookie year, a piece in the Paul George trade. The Thunder also received multiple draft picks from the Los Angeles Clippers in that deal. One of those picks turned into Jalen Williams, who Gilgeous-Alexander called “a once in a lifetime player” during his Finals MVP speech.
Williams will likely be getting a massive contract extension very soon, too. For now, Gilgeous-Alexander has more reasons to celebrate. After all, it’s not every day you get to sign one of the wealthiest contracts in league history.
