Alexander in the championship season, the best defender in a single season?

Championship, MVP, FMVP, these honors are what many players have been pursuing all their lives, and many superstars have struggled to obtain them for more than ten years. But for Alexander, the Thunder ace completed the Super Grand Slam in just one season.

Looking back at Alexander's incredible performance last season, he won the scoring title with an average of 32.7 points per game. He scored 20+ points in 72 consecutive games, tying Durant and Jordan for the fourth-longest record in NBA history. In addition, there were 49 times of 30+ points in a single game, 13 times of 40+ points in a single game, and 4 times of 50+ points in a single game, all of which are the highest in the league.

What is the concept of 50 points four times in a single game?

To put it simply, Alexander tied the 50+ times in the careers of O'Neal, David Robinson, Olajuwon, and Nowitzki in one season.

As a team with 68 wins in a single season and an average margin of victory of 12.8 points per game, the Thunder often established a lead in the first three quarters of the game. Alexander left the game early in the third quarter in 17 games, but even so, the scoring performance was terrifying enough. The total points scored in the first three quarters alone ranked second in the league.

But throughout the season, Alexander has been constantly controversial about free throws, and was once questioned by fans. Indeed, he has some exaggerated foul-drawing actions, but most of his free throws come from physical contact in the breakthrough route.

The NBA counted the number of breakthroughs per game from the 2013-14 season. Among the top five breakthroughs in a single season, Alexander alone occupied four of them. Last season, Alexander had 20.6 breakthroughs, which was far ahead of the second place Brunson's 17.8.

As the scoring leader, Alexander's season total points also rank first in the league, far surpassing the second-placed Edwards by nearly 300 points. Even if all players' free throws are removed, Alexander can still aspire to be the scoring champion. Even if only his free throws are eliminated, Alexander can still rank sixth in the total scoring list.

Comparing the 24 MVP winners since 2000, Alexander only ranked 12th in the number of free throws. He was in the middle of the average, which is not a very special statistic.

In addition to his historical offensive performance, Alexander also has outstanding defensive contributions. Adding blocks and steals together, Alexander can also rank fifth in the league with 2.68 times, and has been among the top ten in the league in the past three seasons.

Considering that in addition to personal performance, the team record is also very important in MVP selection. Last season, the Thunder won 68 wins in a single season among the top five in history. They had an 18-game lead over the Nuggets, where Jokic was ranked second in MVP voting. This gap was enough to allow the Suns, who missed the playoffs last season, to directly advance to second place in the Western Conference. The 18-game gap was also the winning gap between the top two MVP teams, which ranked third in NBA history.

Looking at NBA history, this gap only lags behind the 25-game gap between Magic Johnson and Jordan in the 1986-87 season, when the Lakers won 65 games and the Bulls had 40 wins; and the 24-game gap between Chamberlain and Nate Thurmond in the 1966-67 season, when the 76ers won 68 games and the Warriors won 45 games.

Thanks to his top performance on both offense and defense, various high-end statistics are among the best, coupled with the historical team record and win gap, it is enough to support Alexander to snatch this biggest individual award from Jokic.

Compared with the league's MVP guards, Alexander is the 12th guard in NBA history to win the MVP. Before him are Bob Cousy, Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Iverson, Nash, Kobe, Rose, Curry, Westbrook and Harden; as a comparison target, Jordan has five MVPs, Magic has won three times, and Curry is the last guard to win the MVP multiple times recently.

Spread out Alexander's average game statistics in the 2024-25 season:

32.7 points, 5 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.7 steals, and 1 block, shooting 51.9% from the field, 37.5% from the three-point range, 89.8% from the free throw line, and 56.9% from the field.

In these statistics, Alexander's rebounding, assists and stealing abilities are indeed not as good as many guards at the same level, but other statistics are basically at the forefront. The average of 32.7 points per game ranks second, only behind Jordan's 35 points in 1988; tied for second with 1 block, behind Jordan's 1.6 blocks in 1988; and the field goal percentage of 51.9% ranks fourth, only behind Jordan and Jordan in 1988. Jordan in 1991 and Magic in 1987; their free throw shooting percentage of 89.8% ranked fifth, behind Curry, Nash and Magic; their true effective shooting percentage of 56.9% ranked fourth, losing to the two offensive masters Curry and Nash.

Even if he is not very good at three-pointers, Alexander's 37.5% shooting rate last season still ranked seventh among this group of people.

Although he is not as comprehensive as Big O and Westbrook, Alexander's scoring average, defensive performance and shooting efficiency are not inferior to most defender MVP winners. He can even achieve comprehensive suppression of statistics when facing some opponents. Compared with Magic's three MVP seasons and Jordan's first championship season, they have their own highlights. Their rebounds, steals, and blocks are better, but Alexander has advantages in other aspects.

But facing Jordan and Curry at their peak, Alexander was slightly at a disadvantage. In the 1987-88 season, Jordan produced explosive statistics, averaging 35 points and 3.2 steals per game. He also had advantages in rebounds, blocks and shooting percentage. He beat Alexander in five out of nine statistics. Unfortunately, Jordan suffered a waterloo that season and was eliminated by the Pistons in five games in the playoffs..

Curry, who won the championship in the 2014-15 season, is one of the few MVP winners who averaged less than 25 points per game, but he is better in assists, steals, three-pointers, free throws and effective field goal percentage.

But in the 2015-16 season, Curry had more advantages. Alexander could only win in terms of points, blocks and shooting percentage, and fell behind in six of the nine statistics. In the same year, Curry led the Warriors to 73 wins and became the first unanimous MVP in history. Unfortunately, he failed to win the final championship of the season. Without the great reversal of James and the Cavaliers, the 2015-16 season would definitely be the best single-season performance in NBA history.

James and Jordan, two superstars, did not collect MVP, championship and FMVP until they were 27 years old. However, the 26-year-old Alexander achieved it directly in just one season, becoming the fourth god-level player since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jordan and O'Neal to win the scoring title, MVP, and FMVP in a single season.

It is no surprise that Alexander has obtained a ticket to enter the ranks of legendary stars. What needs to be focused on in the new season is to maintain this level of competition influence, which is not limited to a single season, but stable long-term combat power, as well as the accumulation of star honors.