Why SGA won MVP

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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named the NBA's Most Valuable Player last night, becoming just the second Canadian ever to win basketball's most prestigious individual award and the first since Steve Nash went back-to-back in 2005 and '06.

This wasn't a surprise. After finishing second in MVP voting last year to Denver's Nikola Jokic, the 26-year-old, 6-foot-6 guard from Hamilton, Ont., emerged as the clear favourite months ago and finished the regular season with an ironclad (and elegantly simple) case: he led the league in scoring and powered his team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, to the best record in the entire league.

Digging a little deeper into Gilgeous-Alexander's fantastic season, his 32.7 points per game put him well ahead of scoring-race runner-up Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks (30.4) and the third-place Jokic (29.6). In addition to becoming the first Canadian to lead the NBA in scoring, SGA averaged a career-high 6.4 assists along with five rebounds and 1.7 steals, which tied for fourth-most in the league and helped OKC to the No. 1 defensive rating along with the fourth-best offensive rating.

In a league where fans constantly complain about load management and stars not taking the regular season seriously enough, Gilgeous-Alexander was about as close to an Ironman as you'll get these days, playing 76 of the Thunder's 82 games. Among the top 15 scorers, only Minnesota's Anthony Edwards (79) suited up more often.

WATCH | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander becomes 2nd Canadian to win NBA MVP:

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander becomes 2nd Canadian to win NBA MVP

And SGA