The battle won, now comes the war. 

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the NBA’s most valuable player for 2025-26. For the second consecutive season, he’s been recognized for the league’s top individual honour. At 28 years old and in his eighth season, the Oklahoma City Thunder star from Hamilton, Ont., joined a list of 16 all-time greats to win multiple MVP awards and became just the 14th player to win the award in back-to-back seasons. 

In second place? The expectation is that it will be Victor Wembanyama, the emerging superstar with the San Antonio Spurs. 

Conveniently, the NBA announced the results of the award voting the night before the Spurs and Thunder – and Gilgeous-Alexander and Wembanyama – open a Western Conference Finals match-up that has seemed pre-ordained since the two clubs emerged as the best two teams in the NBA over the course of the regular season (Game 1 at 8:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. PT on Sportsnet 360 and Sportsnet ).

And given the depth of the two rosters, the youthful stardom throughout their respective lineups and the quality of the organizations’ respective infrastructure, it’s easy to imagine the Thunder and Spurs having to fight for the right to advance to the NBA Finals many times in the next five-to-10 years. 

It has a chance to become one of the NBA’s great rivalries and at the centre of it are sure to be Gilgeous-Alexander — the smooth, yet relentless guard who marries supreme skill with subtle athleticism and bottomless drive — and Wembanyama, a one-of-a-kind physical prospect whose combination of discipline and talent suggests that he may actually be able to harness his limitless potential, which would place him on a trajectory to join the sport’s all-time greats if it happens. 

It’s a path that Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder are already on as they seek to become the first team in eight years to repeat as NBA champions, having positioned themselves to legitimately think about themselves as a budding dynasty. 

Wembanyama and the Spurs will need to go through Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder to reach their goals, and the pride of Canadian basketball isn’t going to be stepping aside for anyone........

© Sportsnet