Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. If you haven't been paying attention to the Oklahoma City Thunder lately, that name might just sound like a mouthful. But as of January 2026, he’s officially the Sports Illustrated Athlete of the Year—or, to be technically precise for the purists, the 2025 Sportsperson of the Year.
He’s the first Canadian to grab the solo spotlight for this award since Wayne Gretzky did it back in '82. Think about that for a second. We’re talking over forty years of sports history where no single Canuck could nudge out the American icons, until a kid from Hamilton, Ontario, decided to turn the NBA into his personal playground.
The 2025 Shai Takeover
Honestly, the choice was kinda obvious by the time the Thunder lifted the Larry O'Brien trophy in June. Shai didn’t just win; he dominated. We're talking about a guy who averaged 32.7 points per game, snagged the regular-season MVP, and then went ahead and snatched the Finals MVP too. It’s a rare trifecta. Only three other guys in the history of the league have pulled that off in a single season.
But it’s not just about the stats. The Sports Illustrated Athlete of the Year has always been about something "more."
The magazine looks for the "spirit of sportsmanship." Usually, that means someone who does something bigger than the game. For Shai, it was about dragging a small-market team like Oklahoma City—a place better known for college football than championship parades—into the global spotlight. He did it with this weird, "delusional confidence" his mom, Charmaine, used to talk about. She was an Olympic sprinter herself, so the pedigree is definitely there.
Who Else Was in the Room?
The awards ceremony at the Wynn Las Vegas earlier this month wasn't just a Shai-fest, though. Sports Illustrated likes to spread the love these days. They’ve got a whole suite of sub-awards that actually tell a better story of where sports are headed in 2026.
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- Innovators of the Year: Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier. These two basically rebuilt women's basketball from the ground up by launching Unrivaled, that player-led 3-on-3 winter league. They got tired of players having to fly to Turkey or Russia just to make a decent paycheck in the offseason. So they built their own thing.
- Breakout Star: Cal Raleigh. The Mariners catcher who somehow mashed 60 home runs. Seeing a switch-hitting catcher hit 60 is like seeing a unicorn ride a bicycle. It just shouldn't happen.
- Muhammad Ali Legacy Award: Michael Phelps. Even years after retiring, the guy is still the gold standard for talking about mental health in sports.
Why This Award Still Matters (And Why It Doesn't)
There’s always a debate. Every single year. People get really worked up about who got snubbed. Back in 2006, the magazine picked Dwyane Wade over Roger Federer, and fans practically rioted. Tennis fans still haven't forgotten. They saw it as a slap in the face to their sport.
The truth is, the Sports Illustrated Athlete of the Year title isn't a math equation. It’s a vibe check.
If it were just about who had the best stats, we’d let a computer pick it. Instead, the editors at SI look for the person who defined the conversation of the year. In 2024, it was Simone Biles, because her comeback in Paris was the only thing anyone talked about for three weeks straight. In 2023, it was Deion Sanders, because "Coach Prime" turned college football into a reality show that everyone actually wanted to watch.
What Most People Get Wrong
The biggest misconception? That you have to be the "best" player in the world to win.
Look at 1987. They didn't pick a superstar. They picked "Athletes Who Care"—eight different people who were doing massive charity work. Or 1980, when they gave it to the entire U.S. Olympic Hockey team. It’s not a "Player of the Year" trophy you’d get from a league. It's a "Sportsperson" award. Character counts. Influence counts.
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"Basketball taught me humility," Shai said during his speech in Vegas. "It taught me that your path doesn't have to look like everyone else's in order to be special."
That’s basically the SI mantra. They love a good narrative. They love the guy who was the 11th pick and wasn't "supposed" to be a superstar.
The Evolution of the Honor
If you look back at the winners since 2020, you see a shift. It’s getting more diverse, both in terms of gender and the types of sports represented.
- 2020: A split year. LeBron James, Breanna Stewart, Patrick Mahomes, Naomi Osaka, and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif. They honored "The Activist Athlete" during the height of the pandemic and social justice movements.
- 2021: Tom Brady. Because, well, it’s Tom Brady and he won another Super Bowl at an age when most people are worried about their cholesterol.
- 2022: Stephen Curry.
- 2023: Deion Sanders.
- 2024: Simone Biles.
- 2025: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
It’s becoming a hall of fame for the "Face of the Era."
The "SGA" Impact on 2026
So, where do we go from here? Shai is under a supermax contract until 2031. He’s already become a fashion icon—those tunnel fits are legendary—and he’s basically the new blueprint for how a "small market" star can become a global brand.
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He didn't need to go to the Lakers or the Knicks to be the Sports Illustrated Athlete of the Year. He stayed in Oklahoma, put in the work when "nobody was watching," and waited for the world to notice him. It's a lesson in patience that most young athletes today probably need to hear.
The award is a silver replica of an ancient Greek amphora. It’s heavy, it’s old-school, and it’s still the one trophy every athlete actually wants on their mantelpiece.
How to Follow the Next Race
If you want to track who might be the next Sports Illustrated Athlete of the Year, don't just look at the scoreboard. Watch the headlines.
- Watch the "Why": Is the athlete changing how their sport is played? (Like Stewart and Collier).
- Watch the "Where": Are they doing something historic for a specific city or country? (Like Shai for Canada/OKC).
- Watch the "Who": Do they have a voice outside of the stadium?
To stay truly updated, follow the "SI Awards" announcements which typically happen every December or early January. You can also track the Sportsperson of the Year betting odds that usually pop up around November—though as Roger Federer learned in 2006, the oddsmakers aren't always right.
The best way to appreciate the honor is to look past the trophy and look at the cover story. That’s where the real "why" lives.
Next Steps to Stay Informed:
- Review the Archive: Go to the SI Vault to read the original 1954 cover story on Roger Bannister to see how the criteria have shifted from "pure performance" to "cultural impact."
- Track the 2026 Season: Keep an eye on the upcoming World Cup qualifiers and the NBA playoffs, as these major stages usually produce the frontrunners for the next award cycle.
- Monitor the Innovators: Follow the progress of the Unrivaled league's second season to see if Stewart and Collier’s "Innovator" status translates into long-term commercial success for women's sports.