Rachel Nichols is already ready to welcome Shai Gilgeous-Alexander into a very exclusive club.
Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder won the NBA championship on Sunday night with a 103-91 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. With Gilgeous-Alexander leading the way with 29 points and 12 assists, Oklahoma City managed to capture the title on their home floor at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, O.K. (marking their first since relocating from Seattle in 2008).
After the game, Gilgeous-Alexander was named NBA Finals MVP. The award capped off a banner 2024-25 season for him in which he won the scoring title, won regular season MVP, and led the Thunder to an NBA title to boot.
The veteran NBA reporter Nichols, who was covering the game, sparked debate with her subsequent post about Gilgeous-Alexander. Nichols took to X to say that Gilgeous-Alexander’s Hall of Fame case was “locked” after his historic season.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's Hall of Fame case, locked
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) June 23, 2025
Regular season MVP, scoring champ, Finals MVP, Champion.
Not everyone agreed with Nichols’ post though. Debate was immediately sparked online over her take, especially since Gilgeous-Alexander is only 26 years old and still has a lot of career left to go before the Hall of Fame even comes into play.
Nichols responded to the debate she sparked, noting that Gilgeous-Alexander had already cleared “the bar” for the Hall of Fame with his exceptional season. She noted that the only eligible regular season NBA MVP not in the Hall of Fame was Derrick Rose, whose career was derailed by injuries.
Some of the replies to this tweet tell me there are a LOT of people out there unaware of where the bar is for the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame. There is only one eligible regular-season MVP who is not in the Hall, and that’s Derrick Rose, who was severely impacted by injury. https://t.co/zf3YB5XcUI
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) June 23, 2025
As it stands right now, Gilgeous-Alexander now has a 59.9 percent chance to make the Hall of Fame based only on his current resume (per Basketball Reference). Some, like Nichols, will argue that Gilgeous-Alexander would get into the Hall if he retired tomorrow. Others though (especially Gilgeous-Alexander’s detractors) would maintain that he is well on his way … but still needs several more years of high-quality play to build his case.
